Bolt the Superdog: Calico's Rage
by Myiathealbino
Summary: Sequel to Bolt the Superdog: A New Threat. If you have not yet read it I recommend you do before your proceed. When we last left off, Penny and Dr. Forrester had been taken by Calico and Bolt was destroyed by Calico's super powered wolfdog Gus. But wait a minute; didn't the last book mention that superdogs were indestructible? So what happened? Where is Bolt? And is he really dead?
1. Chapter 1: Gateway to Life

One furious, deep brown eye. The cream coloured Labrador retriever yelped, jumping back and the other pedigree, a White American Shepard, got to its feet, turned and pounced on her in the blink of an eye. She folded her ears all the way back at its growling. Then, as it stopped, she slowly opened her eyes. The White American Shepard got off her and backed away.

"My apologies, sister. Are you hurt?" he asked anxiously. The pedigree Labrador pulled herself into a sitting position.

"I think so… however, I'm not your sister." She said. The other pedigree dog shrugged.

"Well, we're all the same species, right?" he said with a small grin.

"I guess so… I never thought about it that way but I guess, in a sense, you're right." She said with a grin of her own. "What's your name?"

"I'm Bolt… and you?" the American Shepard replied.

"I'm Amelia… what were you doing in the sea?" she asked him.

"You are never going to believe this but, I have no idea." Bolt said smiling. "That wolfdog must have thrown me in." Amelia tilted her head.

"Wolfdog?"

"A guy I was fighting earlier." Bolt said idly

"I'll hand it to you, you have about five times the strength of any dog I've ever seen." She said.

"Ahem… well I have been known for my strength at different points down the track." Bolt paused and sniffed. "Where am I?"

"In a city under Bison Peek. The cliff's that way." Amelia pointed. "Had some pretty good views before they declared it unsafe."

"Well that's just great." Bolt muttered sarcastically. Just his luck. In a strange city under a cliff and no way of knowing how far he'd travelled from Calico's base.

"Bit of a bummer for the tourists… but I keep wondering, why did that business man and his dog and cat and all those guys dressed in black come through here up there." Amelia said. Bolt's ears pricked up.

"Business man and his dog and cat?" he asked interested.

"Big tall guy. Bit of a jerk if you ask me. He had one brown eye and one green eye… like, completely green like he was some kind of cat." Amelia said, trying to remember what he looked like.

"This green eye… was it his left?" Bolt asked eagerly.

"Yeah it was…"

"And the dog… what did he look like?" Bolt asked becoming hopeful.

"Top half dark red… bottom half white… brown eyes and collar with what looked like a cat's eye on it." Amelia closed her eyes remembering him.

"And the cat?" Bolt asked her, life springing to his voice.

"Egyptian Manu, black and white, didn't move from his shoulder at all." Amelia said.

"Thank you that's all I need to know." Bolt said

"Why do you want to know about him?" Amelia asked curiously.

"Remember that dog I said I was fighting?"

"Was it him?" Amelia asked.

"Yep."

"Ah, I see, you you're going for revenge?" Amelia said, her eyes shining.

"You got it."

"Good. That jerk of a dog treats us badly." Amelia said as if she had something disgusting in her mouth.

" _How long have I been out?"_ Bolt wondered.

"Well, I'm off to kick some tail." He said somewhat heroically, marching off.

"Good luck!" Amelia called after him.

Penny was knocked aside quite suddenly and, on a reflex, brought up her Wheel Bar to attack… only to have it knocked out of her hand by a lava blast.

"Give it up, Penny." Calico said, walking up beside Gus. "You're just a little girl and your doggy can't save you anymore." Calico spat out the word 'doggy'. Gus shot another lava blast on the floor near her, making her inch back. He shot again and Penny wriggled backwards further. Gus leapt and gave her a gentle head butt… which was the equivalent of a heavy shove for a super dog. It sent Penny rolling along the floor. Gus pounced on her and held her down. Penny reached one hand out and managed to grab her Wheel Bar. But as she swung it around to hit Gus, the wolfdog used another lava blast and knocked it out of her hand again.

"Hey Bolt." The White American Shepard looked around.

"I'm sorry, have we met?" he asked the black Labrador retriever mutt.

"Name's Alex. I'm Amelia's brother." He said. "Amelia told me about you. If you're staying for any length of time, you'll see me around; I get everywhere."

"Ah, well good to see you." Bolt said. Alex nodded.

"If I am correct, you have somewhere pressing to be. I won't keep you." Bolt nodded and walked briskly off.

Gus threw Penny against the wall. Penny crawled over and grabbed her Wheel Bar. She swung the weapon on Gus but he knocked it out of her hand with a lava blast. It clanged against the wall and fell on the floor. Penny pounced on it again. She pointed it threateningly at the wolfdog then swung it. Gus knocked it out of her hand with a lava blast.

Bolt stopped. A ladder cut into the cliff face. Great.

"I'm a bit too short to climb the ladder… looks like you are too." Came a voice. Bolt jumped.

"Who's there?" he asked, his tail raising

"Just me." Said a brown Labrador retriever mutt coming out of the bushes. "I'm Amelia's sister." Bolt looked up at the cliff; he couldn't help but feel his hopes sinking. "There might be another way…" Bolt looked up again.

"What is it? Tell me!" the brown Labrador mutt pointed back the way he came. First you got to find the bridge. Find Isai, a pedigree Golden Retriever, he'll lead you on." She said.

"Ok, thank you!" said Bolt, dashing off. He eventually found the bridge and saw the pedigree Golden Retriever near it. Bolt ran over to him.

"Ah, you must be the dog that everyone is talking about." Said the Golden Retriever, standing up. "You wish to find a way up the cliff, yes?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?" Bolt asked. The Golden Retriever laughed.

"Labrador grapevine. Alex gets all over the place, you know."

"Alex? How'd he know?" Bolt asked confused.

"He heard it from Lesly."

"Who's Lesly?" Bolt asked warily, baring his teeth slightly.

"Amelia's sister."

"Oh." The pedigree Golden Retriever let off a howl and Alex appeared from nowhere.

"Hey Bolt, what do you know?" he said.

"Right then mister dog… uh, Bolt was it? Let's go." Said the Golden Retriever, walking over the bridge, Alex and Bolt in tow.

"I'm sure you already know this, but the pedigree Golden Retriever's name is Isai." Alex whispered.

"Yeah I did." Bolt replied as they walked across the bridge.

Penny hit the wall and fell near her Wheel Bar. She reached for the weapon but as soon as she gripped it, Gus shot it out of her hand with a lava blast.

Bolt, Isai and Alex reached a house. Isai knocked on the door and a Golden Retriever mutt came out of a dog flap. Isai and the dog nuzzled and then he turned to them.

"My mate Satori will lead you on." Isai announced. The Golden Retriever mutt smiled then went back inside the house to emerge later with a ring.

"Give me your paw." She said, pointing at Bolt. Bolt placed a paw forwards and she slipped the ring onto it. "I have a feeling you may need this." She said.

"Oh Satori, enough with your primitive witchcraft." Isai moaned.

"What is it?" asked Bolt.

"The ring of Power. I have a feeling you may need it."

Penny picked her Wheel Bar back up but Gus shot it right out of her hand. Penny picked it up again but Gus just shot it out of her hand.

"Hey Satori." Said a pedigree Yorkshire terrier.

"Hey Noble." Said Satori.

"Say is that the ring of Power?" he asked.

"It sure is!" Satori said.

"Awesome!"

"Coming up the cliff with us?"

"Sure." So Satori, Noble, Alex and Bolt headed off through a nearby tunnel. It was then Noble spotted another dog, a Yorkshire terrier mutt. "Peter! What's wrong?"

"…dad, I'm lost." He whimpered. Noble hushed him.

"It's ok, we're here." Noble reassured his son. The five of them made it through the cave and out into the forest. Satori looked down.

"This forest is not my domain; you will need to find Dr. Hill if you are to get any closer to the cliff."

"He lives in the house just across the stream." Said Noble.

"Ok, thanks!" said Bolt jumping across the stream. He knocked on the door of the house. A pedigree German Shepard appeared through the dog flap. "I'm looking for Dr. Hill." Bolt told him.

"Who are you?" the German Sheppard asked.

"I'm Bolt." Said the super dog.

"Well, I'm Dr. Hill. Why are you here?"

"Satori said you would be able to lead me through the forest?"

"Yes, I could do that. Come on." They set off and on the way, ran into Dr. Hill's brother, Boris who tagged along. They reached a lake and ran into Isai.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Bolt asked him.

"I spend my life by water. This is one of my favourite places." He said.

"Ok, well you want to tag along?"

"Hmm… ok." They crossed the lake and were walking by some streams when they bumped into Alex.

"Alex, you truly get everywhere." Bolt commented.

"What can I say? I'm a roamer." The black Labrador mutt replied. "Say, are you still heading to the cliff?"

"Yeah, why do you ask?" Bolt asked him.

"Well in that case, you better turn around." Alex said.

"What? Why?"

"There's been a rockslide up ahead, and it looks like it was a forced one. By something pretty big. No way is anyone getting through. You'll have to go the long way."

"Great." Bolt, Dr. Hill, Boris, Isai and Alex crossed the lake again and headed around the long way to the cliff.


	2. Chapter 2: the Coliseum

As Bolt, Dr. Hill, Boris, Isai and Alex approached a giant stone building a pedigree Beagle ran out of it straight towards Bolt. The super dog gentle placed one paw on the dog's head and preventing it from moving forward. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Slow down there brother, where are you going so fast?" he asked gently. The Beagle calmed and panted.

"A dog! It's stronger than any other I've ever seen! It's having a real fit right now. Please, stop it! Please!" the Beagle said. Bolt entered the stone building, his friends not far behind him. All of a sudden, a gate came crashing down, trapping Bolt inside the coliseum and his friends outside. A dark red husky dropped down and advanced on the super dog. His growling slowly got louder until he lunged forward and engulfed him in viscus fire. The heat made the super dog topple like a sack of potatoes.

"BOLT!" CLANG! Alex smashed into the gate, trying to break it down. The dark red husky drew in a sharp breath as he looked down at the super dog. Bolt stood to his feet in one swift movement and head butted the other dog away.

"I thought that was you." He growled. The pedigree Beagle Bolt had stopped earlier had walked up to the gate to watch the fight as well as a mutt Beagle. The dark red husky shot more viscus fire at Bolt and the super dog toppled over but he was back on his feet a moment later and unleashed a jet of his own fire. A brown pedigree dachshund walked up to the gate to watch too. The dark red husky knocked Bolt back with a Strong Attack but then Bolt just stood up and flamed the dog again. The dark red husky knocked Bolt back with a Dash Combo. A mutt dachshund appeared at the gate to watch the ensuing fight. Bolt slammed into the dark red husky and knocked him back. The red husky knocked Bolt away with a Strong Combo. Bolt rolled backwards and launched himself at him, knocking him back. Another mutt dachshund appeared at the gate to watch. Bolt fired his laser beams into the celling and a bunch of stone fell onto the dark red husky. Bolt heard cheers and howls from behind him but he didn't celebrate just yet. After nothing happened for a few minutes, Bolt walked back to the gate and smashed through it. A Boxer came over.

"Thank you for that… uh… Bolt was it? In any case, you may have this." The Boxer grabbed a pink stone on a chain and put it around Bolt's neck. "It has the power to heal any wound. Use it wisely." Just then Bolt heard a yelp. He looked back and saw a cream pedigree Poodle had gone to sniff the rocky rubble and the dark red husky had sprung out of it.

"One moment." Said Bolt, jumping back through the gate. Bolt and the red husky had a mad, high speed battle, flaming each other. The dark red husky used a Ground Pound and threw Bolt backwards but then the super dog came back with a super-hot flame blast that knocked the dark red husky down. Bolt snorted. "Goodbye, Gus!" he growled, walking back out of the coliseum.

"t-thank you…" said the pedigree Poodle.

"No problem. Now if you will excuse us, we have somewhere to be." He glanced meaningfully at Dr. Hill who nodded and he and Bolt, Boris, Alex and Isai continued on.


	3. Chapter 3: Idle Springs

The group found out that the area behind the coliseum was a dead end so they headed back to the lake and stopped.

"What now?" asked Boris.

"I guess we find a bridge." Said Alex. Bolt promptly dived into the water.

"Or be spontaneous and jump right in." said Isai, following Bolt into the water. After swimming around underwater for a while the two decided the lake was a dead end and jumped back onto the shore.

"Got wet for nothing, didn't you?" Boris said to Bolt.

"Would you like to be wet for nothing?" Bolt asked Boris. Boris decided to shut his muzzle.

"Let's just say that the 'long way' up the cliff is definitely not where we just went." Said Dr. Hill. They turned back and wandered back into the forest to follow the stream. There was a pool at the end which Bolt noticed was a bit deeper than the rest of the stream, so he dived in to check it out. He surfaced a few minutes later.

"I think I got something." He said and Dr. Hill, Boris, Alex and Isai all dived into the water after Bolt. Bolt had found a tunnel at the bottom of the pool and they all followed it to see where it would lead. It was unfortunately a dead end, with a good view of the lake. "It seems we are stuck… any ideas Dr. Hill?" Bolt asked.

"I don't know any other way up the cliff other than the one the rockslide is blocking." The German Shepard pedigree responded. Bolt sighed, the weight of the water in his fur taking a toll on him. It was just too bad that the dirt he was standing on was rather soft… the ledge crumbled under Bolt's front paws and the super dog fell forwards, tumbling into the lake.

"Bolt!" Alex yelled down. Bolt surfaced, coughing and spluttering. "Are you ok?" Alex called down to him.

"Yeah I think so." Bolt called up. Then he spotted something in the part of the lake he'd jumped into before. A pipe, just big enough to squeeze through. "Hey guys, I think I see something! Follow me!" Bolt dived under and swam towards it. Behind him, he heard splashes as the others jumped in after him. Bolt reached the pipe and squeezed through it. When Bolt reached the other side he found himself in a small room. Dr. Hill came up next, took one look around and said:

"It's the water purification plant." The group wandered through the plant until they exited through another pipe. The few men on duty didn't seem to find it weird that a bunch of dogs had just invaded the purification plant. A random dog wandering around was an extremely common thing on this island, considering a lot of people had pets, most of which were dogs. Bolt, Dr. Hill, Boris, Alex and Isai found another lake on the other side of the pipe. A weary looking black mutt Poodle walked up to them.

"The dark red husky is mean; he stole our food!" it said. Bolt looked up just in time to see the dark red husky the black mutt Poodle spoke of chase a white mutt Poodle away. Bolt growled. Gus was really getting on his nerves.

"Hey! You in the dark red!" he yelled. Gus looked over at him surprised but as soon as he saw who he was he ran over and flamed Bolt. Bolt flopped over and rolled into the lake. "Come get me!" he taunted, diving beneath the surface. He knew Gus didn't like water. Gus just sat there staring at the water. After a time, Bolt came up for air and Gus streaked over to him but Bolt quickly dived under again and squeezed through a pipe. He resurfaced in a room inside the nearby building. In the room there was a pedigree Shih Tzu whimpering. "What's wrong sister?" he asked.

"That mean dark red husky said he would kill the other dogs if I don't solve these challenges." It cried.

"Maybe I can help, what are the challenges?" Bolt asked.

"The first challenge is to turn all these blocks yellow." The pedigree Shih Tzu gestured to some boxes nearby. Bolt walked over and started jumping on all the boxes until they were all yellow. "Whoa! You actually did it?! Cool! Ok, meet me at the lake for the next challenge!" the Shih Tzu ran off. Bolt squeezed back through the pipe and swam up to the surface. "The idol in the lake says he's hungry and won't be satisfied until I feed him 10 fish. He says he has a sensitive stomach so be careful of what kind of fish you feed him." the Shih Tzu said. Bolt stared into the water looking to see if there were any fish around.

"Bolt! Look out!" came a cry from Alex. Bolt whipped around, breathing fire before he even knew what was happening. He caught Gus in his mad blast and the other super dog growled with rage and unleashed his own fire. And so began another battle of flames. In the end Bolt won and the other super dog flopped uselessly on the ground. Bolt turned his attention to the water and managed to catch himself 10 fish. Once done, he threw them one by one into the idol's open mouth. It seemed to like what was on the menu.

"Nice job… Bolt. I'm assuming. Follow me." Said the Shih Tzu. But before anyone was following anyone it appeared there was going to be another battle. Gus grabbed Bolt and flipped with him, slamming him on the ground in a Pillar Dive. Bolt leapt to his feet and engulfed Gus in flames. Gus grabbed Bolt and back flipped, shoving him away in a Throw. Bolt launched himself at Gus and slammed into him, knocking him along the ground. Gus got up and grabbed Bolt, throwing him on the ground in a Slam. Bolt launched himself at Gus and sent the other super dog rolling along the ground. Gus engulfed Bolt in fire and he toppled over but, after Gus was finished, he leapt up, unleashing some fire of his own. Gus got up after falling from the blast's heat and grabbed Bolt, throwing him aside in a Toss. Gus huffed and walked away, muttering about weak and pathetic dogs under his breath. Bolt pulled himself up and thought about attacking the wolfdog while his back was turned but decided against it. The wolfdog was stronger than him. Not by much, but still… Bolt saw the Shih Tzu again and went over. "The last challenge is jumping on these stones in the correct order. Good luck." Bolt tried a couple of times but failed. Gus wandered a bit too close to him and Bolt knocked the wolfdog out with the intense heat of a fire blast. Bolt tried a few more times and managed to find the right combination. "Hey, great job Bolt, you're pretty smart for a dog!" a mutt Shih Tzu came over.

"This is the one?" he said, indicating Bolt.

"yes." The pedigree Shih Tzu said. The mutt nodded.

"Thank you for helping us Bolt. We decided we wanted you to have this." He slipped another pink crystal on a chain over Bolt's neck. It was a bit bigger than the other one. "This one will cure all injuries. Use it wisely." Bolt nodded and flicked an ear. He turned just as Gus Dash Attacked him. Bolt rolled and was back on his feet. He slammed into Gus and knocked him back. Gus used a Strong Attack and Bolt bounced along the ground. He launched himself into Gus and sent the other super dog rolling backwards. Gus countered him with a Dash Combo. and Bolt threw himself at Gus and smashed him into the ground.


	4. Chapter 4: Hurricane

The group quickly moved on from the lake and began to ascend up the cliff. A Schnauzer suddenly rushed up to them, panting.

"Something up brother?" Bolt asked him.

"We've always had trouble with the men in black since the moment they got here, but now they've got force fields! If you can find diodes, you should be able to turn them off, and I highly recommend you do; the force fields are blocking the way up the cliff." Bolt looked up and saw one of the men in black. He recognized him immediately and jumped over the Schnauzer, growling at him.

"Well look who thinks he's tough. Here doggy, doggy!" he said, obviously mistaking Bolt for an ordinary American White Shepard. Bolt burnt him with the flames. The schnauzer picked up a lightbulb the guard was carrying and placed it in a groove on a wall near a force field. The force field switched off.

"That was a diode." He said. "Just so you know what you're looking for."

"Right. Find lightbulbs, torch men in black, get atop the cliff." Bolt summarized. The group ran through the force field and headed off. Bolt torched two more of Calico's goons and found another diode. As he turned he heard an alarm and suddenly a metal robot crashed into him, knocking him to the ground.

"Bolt!" yelled Dr. Hill. He ran over and shut down the robot. "Are you ok?"

"I think so… ow…" Bolt picked himself up reluctantly and shot another goon that was running over with a plasma blast. He spotted another robot with him and crashed into, and through it, leaving it a twisted, smoking hunk of metal. Dr. Hill found another diode and put it in a groove in a wall near a force field. The gang walked through the switched off force field only to find another in their way. Fortunately, Bolt still had his diode on him and put it in a groove in the wall next to it. It switched off and they walked through. Bolt torched another one of Calico's goons, broke another robot, torched another two goons, broke another robot, torched another goon and picked up a diode. Dr. Hill found another one while Bolt was busy breaking a robot and torching another goon and put it in a groove in a wall near a force field. The force field switched off and they walked through. There was another force field in front of then and Bolt used the diode he was carrying to turn it off. On the other side, they ran right into a goon that didn't last too long against Bolt's fire. Bolt broke another robot and torched another two goons before breaking another robot. Bolt torched another goon and broke another robot before finding another diode. He placed it in a groove in a wall near another force field to switch it off. On the other side of the force field was a pedigree Chihuahua.

"Thank you for deactivating all the force fields!" it squeaked. "Here, have this, those men in black have had their eye on it for some reason." The Chihuahua slipped a large crystal on a chain around Bolt's neck. "It can cure all sickness. Use it wisely." She said. Bolt turned and left the cave. He then stopped when he saw one of Calico's goons aiming his gun at his friends. Bolt growled lowly and torched the guard. He was about to torch the other one when suddenly out of nowhere, a mutt Chihuahua appeared and took him down. The Chihuahua shook its head.

"Those men in black keep stealing all our lightning gems! Without them we can't start our generator!" Bolt found a lightning stone on the guard he'd torched earlier. He picked it up and took it to the generator. Two more stones were lying by a wall so Bolt and Dr. Hill took them back to the generator. Boris found another stone and brought it to them. Bolt saw two stones near the generator so he and Dr. Hill picked them up and brought them over. In the middle of bringing it, he saw one of Calico's goons had one in his hand. So Bolt threw his stone to Boris and charged into the goon, taking the stone from him. The three dogs brought their stones to the generator and put them inside with the rest. Bolt found another stone by the wall and brought it back to the generator. Bolt found a stone lying nearby so he brought it over too. Then Bolt saw another goon with one in his hand. Bolt torched him and grabbed the gem from his hand. He took it to the generator and then charged another goon down, snatching one of the stones from his hand. Dr. Hill and Boris picked up two stones not far from the generator and the three dogs all placed their stones down inside it. Bolt ran after a goon running off with one of the stones and torched him before returning the stone to the generator. As Bolt ran after another goon with a stone, Dr. Hill picked up one lying by the cliff wall. Bolt torched the goon he was running after and retrieved the stone, taking it back to the generator. Bolt picked up another stone not far away and put it in too. Bolt ran off after two more goons holding stones and torched one before charging the other and then returned the stones one by one. Dr. Hill found a stone by a wall and as Bolt charged down another goon, he picked it up and took it back to the generator. Boris found a stone too and brought it back. Bolt toasted another goon and charged another, retuning the stones one by one. He torched another guard and grabbed his stone, bringing it back too, and then another one and then he charged down another one. Bolt torched another guard and brought his stone back as well. Dr. Hill found another stone not far off and Boris found two. Alex helped him by carrying the second stone and finally the generator started up again. "Oh thank you!" the mutt Chihuahua squeaked excitedly. The group headed back. On the way they ran into a pedigree pug.

"Hey, see that big building? Those men in black are using it to syphon our electricity! Stop them… please!" Bolt gave a low growl and then super leapt over on top of the factory.

"Geez that was a good jump." Muttered a black pug mutt watching.

"You said it Pudgy." Said a pedigree Bulldog walking over. Bolt walked into the factory and pressed the stop button.

As Calico walked down the corridor, all the lights suddenly turned off.

"Humph. The power's gone out." he muttered. "What are those idiots on that village down the bottom of the clifftop doing?" he said to the guard beside him.

"I don't know… I'll check." He pulled out a radio and tried to make contact with one of the goons. Nothing. "They won't pick up sir." He said.

"Humph, so I hear. Oh well, I guess we can rest easy then." He said walking into his privet lounge.


	5. Chapter 5: Beach Detour

"Well it seems like we might have to take a detour." Said Dr. Hill.

"What now?" asked Bolt.

"The path up the cliff is barricaded. We'll have to go along the beach."

"Oh, ok well I guess it's not too bad…" Bolt said. So the group headed down the cliff and along the shoreline. They went into a cave and inside were a bunch of turtles. There was also a mutt Bulldog who walked up to them.

"Hey Isai. Who's your friend?" he asked.

"This is Bolt. He really needs your help Mr. Postman"

"Oh and what might the problem be?" he asked

"He needs to cross this beach. Can you help him?"

"Sure but… I need help shepherding these turtles."

"no problem." Said Bolt opening the pen door. The baby turtles saw what was happening and dived into a nearby rock pool. Bolt leapt in after them and chased them through a tunnel into another rock pool.

Gus had been down in the cave on the beach relaxing in a rock pool when he was almost bowled over by a group of turtles. For a brief second the thought about flaming the reptiles but no, they didn't deserve that. They were no threat. But then he saw something that was a threat. Bolt emerged from the rock pool. Gus growled lowly and the water began heating up. Bolt looked at the warming water confused. He twitched one ear and then slowly looked around and spotted the wolfdog. Quickly he dived under the water and remerged facing Gus, and unlike the wolfdog, Bolt's fire didn't need to charge… Bolt flamed Gus and the wolfdog lost his focus on swimming, sinking. Bolt swam to the bank and scrambled onto it. Then there was a splash and Gus was out, shaking himself off quickly, he flamed Bolt and the super dog toppled over but was back on his feet in an instant, whipping around and unleashing his own jet of viscus. Gus planted one foot on the cave floor and grounded himself, the fire splashing off of him. The wolfdog leapt on Bolt but Bolt kicked him off him with all the super strength he could muster. Gus rammed head first into the cave wall and lay there groaning. Bolt simply didn't care, he flamed Gus, again! With another groan, Gus got up and shot two plasma blasts at Bolt. Knocked on the floor by one, the super dog rolled out of the way of Gus' second blast and while he was busy firing, Bolt opened a secret passage in the nearby wall. The super dog ran through, leaving Gus to wonder where he'd gone… until he saw the secret passage this is, and then he charged after Bolt at perhaps a million miles an hour. Of course he stopped when he was almost crushed by a trap that Bolt was sitting behind, but after that he dodged it and dived at Bolt. Bolt crashed into him and drove him back. Gus shot two blasts of fire at the super dog who dodged behind the trap. Bolt leapt over to Gus and smacked him back before running off. Bolt ran right into a Pomeranian.

"oh! I'm sorry." It said. "I'm Dorothy. What's your name?"

"I'm Bolt." Said the super dog.

"I couldn't help noticing how you and that dark red husky don't get along… maybe you could help us? That dark red husky gets around everywhere, wherever he pleases and does what he wants. He trapped some baby turtles in some boxes… I see you have the talisman of Power, so… maybe you could help us?"

"Sure I'll help."

"Great! Good luck with him." Dorothy ran off. Bolt walked around the corner and bashed straight into Gus. The wolfdog was less stunned and reacted immediately, shooting Bolt with two blasts of fire. Then the super dog jumped up and unleashed his own flames. Gus countered with a blast of his own and Bolt flamed him again, before jumping into a nearby rock pool. Gus chased him through the water and when Bolt jumped out, Gus leapt after him. Bolt heard Gus breaking through the air with his supersonic hearing and whirled around, leaping up to him and soaring past him, grabbing his collar as he went and pulling the wolfdog with him before slamming him on the ground. When Bolt landed, Gus got up and hit Bolt with two plasma blasts. The super dog flamed Gus again and Gus shot his own fire at Bolt. Bolt leapt into a nearby saltwater stream cutting through the rocks. Gus looked into it and shuddered. He'd had enough of water for one day. On the other side, Bolt ran into a white Pomeranian mutt.

"There's a guy at the top of the cliff who wants to make soup out of the baby turtles!" it whined. "If you were bigger, you could climb up this ladder and stop him!" Bolt turned and shot a plasma blast at Gus before diving down into a rock pool and coming up in another one behind the wolfdog. Bolt saw the baby turtles Mr. Postman's brother had wanted him to Sheppard and growled, chasing them into a nearby pen and shutting the door.

"Thank you. The baby turtles will be safe up here." Said a black Pomeranian mutt standing near the pen. It put a chain around Bolt's neck. "take this; it's the necklace of Power, you already have the talisman." It smiled. Bolt walked back over to the rock pool he'd entered from and swam back to the area where Dorothy was.

"Now, let's see what this can do." Bolt muttered, sighting a box and shooting a bright orange fireball at it. The box exploded and inside there were three baby turtles. Bolt wandered into another cave area and stood on a pressure plate. A door opened and Bolt shot a bright orange fireball at a box inside it. The box exploded and there were three more baby turtles. The three turtles he'd freed earlier came over to join them in the room and Bolt moved from the pressure plate, letting the doors swing shut and safely trap the baby turtles inside. Bolt headed back into the area he was just in and shot another bright orange fireball at another box and made it explode. There were another three baby turtles inside it. Bolt saw a create and shot another fireball at it. It too exploded but had nothing in it. Bolt shot a fireball at another box which exploded, releasing three more baby turtles. Bolt turned and shot another fireball at a box high on a shelf. It exploded and released three more baby turtles. Bolt dived into a rock pool and swam through a tunnel. He found a box underwater and shot a fireball at it. As the fireball flew through the water, the lava started turning to rock, which made it all the more fun to watch explode… as it blew up, bits of rock flew everywhere like a firework had exploded inside a mountain. Bolt swam to the surface and found himself back on the beach. Bolt began to climb up towards some vegetation, tried to get back on the trail up the cliff. Suddenly, the sand shifted beneath his feet and he was scrabbling, trying to make progress upwards, while so relentless force dragged him downwards. Eventually Bolt couldn't take the sliding anymore, he managed to find his footing for a second and in that second, super leapt away to another part of the sandy cliff. But then it started to slip downwards too. Bolt gave up and leapt back to the ground. The American White Shepard splashed into the rock pool and took the tunnel into the cave. Bolt ran and swam through it until he was back near the white Pomeranian. Then he dived into the saltwater lake and shot a bright orange fireball at an underwater box. It exploded and released three baby turtles. Bolt made his way back through the cave over to the black Pomeranian.

"Impressive! Most impressive!" it said gratefully.

"I do it all the time." Said Bolt. The super dog returned to the beach. "Hey guys, is there another way around this area? There doesn't seem to be a way back to the land… well apart from the way we came down."

"no, you have to go through the ocean." Said Mr. Postman's brother. He gave off a high pitched howl and a pedigree American Spaniel appeared. "Patricia, you know the seas, take Bolt over to the path up the cliff.


	6. Chapter 6: Ocean Drive

The water wasn't something Gus enjoyed. He preferred not to get his head wet, but on the up side, he no longer suffered from Aqua Phobia, but he still didn't like getting wet. Specifically submerging. He hated the feeling of water closing in over his head, he was pretty sure it wasn't the ideal scenario for his fire. Even so, here he was, underwater, being dragged through it. And he did it, only because Calico might have a fit if he didn't. In fact, Gus did it just because he was scared Calico might kill him if he found out that Bolt was alive. And it was that fear that kept him, hanging on for dear life to Bolt's tail and hoping he didn't drown as Bolt swam through the ocean towards Calico's base.

Bolt and Patricia leapt onto the ship's deck and streaked towards cover under a bench.

"So, Patricia, we're on a ship… what now?" Bolt asked.

"Well this boat stops at the Aqua Towers. I would advise some caution there." Patricia replied.

"Why?" Bolt asked curiously.

"There's a guy there that is really creepy, he's got all these cats and stuff…" Patricia replied. Bolt drew in a sharp breath. Patricia shuddered. "I really don't like the looks of him… he's got this one green cat like eye and…" she shuddered again. "he seems like the sort of person that would snatch animals off the street, owned or not and preform like, evil experiments on them and such… all us dogs stay away from him… but there is one dog, he's dark red, and white. He stays by his side and does everything he asks, but I don't know why. And then he's got this cat that sits on his shoulder. Responds to his every word and move like he's reading his mind." Bolt nodded deep in thought.

"Is there anyone else with him?" he asked.

"I wouldn't know, ever since he came here and took over the Aqua Towers, I don't go there anymore. I just stay on the boat and come back to the mainland. Not that it's any better with that dark red husky always picking on us dogs…" Bolt nodded again.

"You don't have to come along, you know that right?" he said.

"Yeah, I know." She replied.


	7. Chapter 7: Aqua Towers

When the boat docked, Patricia stayed on the ship.

"You go, I won't touch that island." She told Bolt, shying away to the ship's bow. Bolt watched her go and then walked down the gangway. A black mutt American Spaniel was lying nearby. Bolt walked over to it.

"The black guys with the shock gloves have drained all the water in the Aqua Centre. We can't get it back unless someone activates the switches they're guarding." Bolt gave a grave nod and wandered in.

" _Calico's going down hard."_ He thought growling. Bolt saw one of the guards and torched him before knocking another one into the wall. He hear the buzz of an electric glove and cast a sideways glance at one of Calico's goons. Bolt swung around and torched him before pressing a nearby switch. About a third of the water that had been in the Aqua centre splashed down into the pools. The American Spaniel sure seemed happier. Bolt walked into the knee deep water.

"Hey!" came a shout. Bolt whipped around and charged the guard who had spoken, ramming him into the wall before he was caught side on by a ranged attack from an electric glove. He fell on the ground and another guard rushed forward to him. Bolt felt himself being pulled towards them by something. Bolt silently let go of his breath and leapt up, torching the oncoming guard. Then, his entire body tingling slightly, he charged the guard who had caught him and knocked him into the deep pool. A centimetre of water wasn't enough to keep him from hitting his head. Bolt snorted crossly. A few more guards were jumping down into the deep pool and coming after him. Setting his brows in a determined line, Bolt leapt up and over the first guard, smacking him down face first into the water before he swung his body around and kicked the second guard away with all four feet and somehow managed to land on the first guard's back. Bolt jumped out of the deep pool and found the second switch. He pressed it and another third or so of water filled the pools. Bolt waded into it and then stopped abruptly. Well he didn't want to stop but he did.

"Blind old bat." Growled Gus from behind him. Bolt whipped around and saw the wolfdog had his teeth latched onto his tail. Had he been like that the entire time? Then Gus began to pull the super dog backwards and shake him. Bolt tried to find something to grab but it was no use. Gus let him go and jumped on him, pinning him down. Bolt bit into one of Gus' paws. Gus yelped in pain and grabbed Bolt around the collar, leaping off him throwing him away. Bolt got up and rushed towards Gus. Gus placed a paw forward and grounded himself. Bolt crashed into him and there was a sickening crunch. While the super dog was stunned, Gus bit into his neck and threw him along the ground. Then he leapt at him and clawed him repeatedly before grabbing his collar and hauling him on top of him, only to shove him off again. When Bolt tried to get up, Gus smacked into him and flew past him, bowling him over again. Bolt leapt up and grabbed hold of Gus' tail. Gus whipped around and bucked but Bolt didn't let go. Then Gus spun around to face the wall and continued the motion with his tail. That did it. Bolt flew off and hit the wall, falling into the water and lay still.


	8. Chapter 8: Calico's Dungeon

"Ow…" Bolt slowly opened his eyes and pushed himself up.

"Hello dog." said a voice with a bright, British accent to it. "I might have known you were alive as your power doesn't just go out, nor do your hydro generators and the operator men on each line, don't pick up the phone!" said Calico, his voice rising in pitch until he yelled the last five words. "Gus!" the dark red wolfdog dropped in front of him and growled hatefully at Bolt. Bolt fired a plasma blast at him but he jumped over it. Calico was hard pressed to dodge out of the way as well. He ran over and pressed a switch. Several blue switches lit up. Gus jumped onto one and used two Ground Pounds. Shockwaves fanned out from the switch and Bolt leapt over them. Gus shot viscus fire at Bolt but the super dog was out of range. Gus moved to another switch and used another two Ground Pounds. Bolt jumped over the produced shockwaves and shot another plasma blast, which Gus dodged and fired a cloud of gas. Gus sparked the gas cloud and it exploded, knocking Bolt back. Gus then leapt to a switch and used Invulnerability as Bolt charged at him, a shield formed over him and flung Bolt back when he tried to break it down. Quickly Gus produced another two shockwaves with the Ground Pound. As he dropped out of the invulnerable state, the shield vanished. Bolt jumped the shockwaves and charged Gus down again. Gus jumped to another switch and used his Invulnerability again. The shield formed over him and bounced the super dog back. He used two Ground Pounds again and Bolt jumped over the shockwaves. As Gus was moving switches, Bolt hit him with a plasma blast. Gus swung around and charged Bolt. Bolt charged too and ran past him, grabbing his collar. Bolt leapt up into the air and slammed him to the ground. As if that wasn't worse enough, a bunch of rocks fell from the ceiling and onto Gus. Bolt landed lightly and watched to see what next. Gus smashed through the rocks Bolt instantly flamed him and Gus shot a plasma blast of his own, there was an explosion in mid-air and both super dogs were thrown back. Gus was already standing on a switch when Bolt got up. The super dog charged at him and Gus used his Invulnerability, forming the shield over him and bouncing Bolt back. Gus used the Ground Pound shockwaves again, which Bolt jumped over and then flamed Gus. Gus fell from the heat but got up instantly and leapt at Bolt. Bolt jumped up past him and grabbed his collar, dragging him through the air and then throwing him back on the ground. More rocks fell from the ceiling and onto Gus. Bolt landed and waited. Sure enough, Gus smashed through the rocks again and leapt for a switch. He looked at Calico and the villain flipped another lever. The switches turned red and Gus shot a bright orange lava blast at Bolt. The super dog pulled himself up slowly and Gus ran for another switch. Gus hit Bolt with a plasma blast that exploded when it hit him. Bolt lay on the floor for a while but then got up and shot some gas at Gus, spitting a spark at it. The explosion knocked Gus back and, while he was on the floor, Bolt grabbed him and jumped up, slamming him back down on the ground. Some more rocks detached from the ceiling and buried him, but Gus smashed through them. He leapt to a switch and fired a gas blast and a plasma blast. Bolt dodged them both and hit Gus with his own plasma blast as he walked to another switch. Bolt stood crouching, growling as Gus walked up to him, but when he leapt on him, Bolt leapt up, grabbed his collar and swung him around so he slammed on the ground again. Bolt dodged out of the way as more rocks fell from the ceiling. Gus smashed through them and fired a plasma blast at Bolt who ducked. Gus jumped for another switch and fired three plasma blasts. Bolt dodged them all and shot his own, hitting Gus and knocking him over. Gus lunged at him and Bolt dodged, grabbing his collar and throwing him away. Bolt knocked into him repeatedly then Gus grabbed Bolt's collar. Bolt pushed up off the wolfdog into the air and ripped him off of him, slamming him back on the ground. Bolt fell on him and shoved him deeper into the floor then sped away as more rocks fell and trapped Gus underneath. As Bolt watched, some of them suddenly flew into the air and the wolfdog climbed out. Calico flipped another lever and some of the switches turned blue again. Gus jumped onto a red switch and fired three plasma blasts at Bolt. The last one hit the super dog and exploded, flinging him back. Bolt got up and fired some gas at Gus. Gus rolled out of the way before he could spark it and fired his own. Bolt jumped back before it exploded. Gus ran to another red switch and shot three gas blasts at Bolt who dodged them expertly. Gus jumped to a blue switch but before he landed, Bolt flung him back with a blast of gas. While he was down, Bolt ran over and threw him up into the air. Gus landed heavily causing more rocks to detach from the ceiling. They fell on top of Gus but the wolfdog just smashed through them. Gus stepped onto a red switch and fired three plasma blasts at Bolt who dodged them all. Gus jumped to a blue switch and used a Ground Pound, hitting Bolt with the shockwave and knocking him back. Gus then moved to a red one and fired three plasma blasts at him. Bolt dodged and flamed Gus as he moved to the blue pressure plate he was just standing on. Gus swung around and jumped on top of Bolt, landing in a Ground Pound. Bolt rapidly dodged, leaving a bunch of dislodged rocks to fall down and crush the wolfdog beneath them. "Alright, super dog!" growled Calico. "Let's see how you deal with this!" doors opened all around Bolt and Calico's goons angled their weapons. "Destroy him!"

"Bring it on, cat person!" Bolt snarled. Then suddenly there was a crunch. Rocks began falling down all around Calico.

"What? The ceiling? Ahhhhhh! Get me out of here!" Calico ran from the dungeon and his goons followed.

"What a scaredy cat." Bolt muttered, shaking his head.


	9. Chapter 9: Autumn Plains

Bolt smashed through the collapsing ceiling and found himself outside. He shook the dust from his fur and took a quick dip in a nearby decorative pond to wash the dirt off. He shook himself dry and heard someone calling.

"Bolt!" the super dog turned and followed the voice which had come from a nearby wooden hut.

"Isai! How you doing?" Bolt barked happily.

"I'm good. How was the Aqua Towers?" Bolt sighed.

"Well my elaborate scheme for revenge didn't blow over so well." He said, casting his brown eyes down.

"Oh huh? Disappointment is nothing new to us. You learn to live with that Husky's mean sense of humour." Isai shook his head. "But on the flip side, legend says that this hut contains a portal to Zephyr. Legend also says that I have the ability to activate it." Isai gave a short laugh. "Sounds like something my mate would be better at." Bolt laughed too and stretched.

"Right. I have a husky to find. Keep practicing." Isai laughed at his comment and watched as the super dog turned tail and exited the hut. Outside Bolt noticed someone who looked very frustrated…

"Dr. Hill?" Bolt snuck up to the dog. Dr. Hill yelped and spun around.

"Bolt! You have been to Aqua Towers?" he asked the American Shepard.

"Yeah. My run in with Gus didn't go too well though." Bolt admitted, his tail drooped slightly.

"Ah well. You can't always win, huh?"

"Yeah I guess… anyway, what's up?"

"Well there should be a whirlwind right about… here." Dr. Hill drew an 'X' on the ground. "But it's not working."

"Hmm…" Bolt placed one paw over the 'X'. Suddenly the whirlwind roared into life, sucking Bolt up into it. Bolt crashed onto the ledge above.

"Bolt?!" Dr. Hill called.

"I'm ok!" Bolt called back, walking to the end of the ledge.

"The ring and talismans must have reactivated it." Bolt leapt back to the ground.

"Do you think these things really have those powers?" Bolt asked him.

"Well, really they're just legends, but after what we've seen, maybe they do."

"It would be interesting to speculate." Bolt flicked his ears. "But not for me. I've got a husky to find!"

"Well, I'll come with you. Let's go!" suddenly Bolt's ears twitched to a nearby whisper. It came from the bush nearby.

"Look out!" Bolt yelled. A pair of darts flew from the bush and hit the dogs. Bolt grabbed the dart that'd hit him and pulled it from his leg. He dropped it on the ground and stared at it. "What in the world is this?" he sniffed it. It smelt funny. In fact, now he thought about it, he _felt_ funny. It was almost as if his leg was tingling. Looking down in surprise, Bolt noticed a red spec on his white fur. He stared at it confused then tried to lick it off. The liquid like substance came off easily. It tasted somewhat salty. Bolt sat. He didn't know why, he just had a strong urge to sit all of a sudden. Eventually he gave into the desire to lie down. Bolt kept staring at the dart on the ground. It was moving now, in circles, duplicating itself, then coming back together. Bolt rested his head on his paws. He didn't know why he just kept looking at it, it just looked entrancing. Eventually his eyes half closed… and then everything went black.


	10. Chapter 10: the Badlands

Bolt picked himself up and looked around at the strange landscape. Where was he now? Just then, he spotted Gus sitting nearby and growled. The wolfdog smiled evilly at him.

"You're pretty tough super dog but I bet even you can't make it through the Badlands without getting singed." Bolt growled at his statement.

"You're on, wolfdog! In fact, I'll race you!" Gus huffed.

"You'll never make me race you, Bolt. Not in this dusk."

"Scaredy cat!" Bolt taunted.

"What did you call me?!" Gus leapt to his feet, the back of his throat glowing orange.

"A scaredy cat that's too afraid to fire that fire blast you're charging up." Bolt half grinned half growled. Gus' eyes flashed and he let go of the fire. Bolt dodged and huffed out a smoke ring. He charged up his own flame and shot at Gus. But the wolfdog already had a second blast charging and let it go, causing a massive explosion in the air. Both super dogs were flung back. "Ok. Now we fight for real!" Bolt snarled, charging at Gus as he was getting up and slamming him into the mountain behind him. The sheer force of Bolt ramming head first into his stomach winded the wolfdog and his recently inhaled air came rocketing back out of his lungs as smoke. Bolt stepped back to let Gus fall to the floor, his own breath coming out as ragged smoke from the exhilaration. Gus was panting hard as he lay there, totally at Bolt's mercy. "What a pathetic excuse for a super dog." Bolt snorted as he turned away. Gus' eyes snapped open and the wolfdog leapt up, sending Bolt rocketing head over heels with a plasma blast. Gus leant down and growled in Bolt's ear.

"We can have your ridiculous race. But don't you _EVER_ call me pathetic again!" Bolt got to his feet.

"Well, in that case… go!" the two canines took off. Under normal circumstances, they would've been as fast as each other. But Bolt was full of energy and Gus was very tired. He might've had a better chance if he had any super speed. But he didn't. And on top of that, Bolt wasn't interested in playing fair. The super dog ran all over the place instead of in a straight line. Gus was managing to keep up but he was pushing himself hard. At that moment, Bolt slammed into his side, knocking him off his feet and sending him rolling along the ground. Gus huffed out a smoke ring and looked up.

"Look into some balance games dog." Bolt taunted from a few metres away. He started to walk again. Gus, using his anger as fuel, heaved himself up and ran after the super dog, kicking him off the track and into an upside down rib cage nearby. Bolt lifted up his head and shot out a cloud of gas. Gus jumped back so it wouldn't hit him when it exploded. Bolt began to get up but Gus knocked him down with a plasma blast. Bolt came back with a shot of viscous fluid and they began to have another fire fight. Eventually Bolt knocked Gus off the edge of the cliff. Bolt started to laugh, head down, eyes closed, just an evil, echoing laugh. Bolt opened his eyes; his pupils were now a green, yellow colour. Bolt looked towards a massive skull nearby. He didn't know why he liked the look of it, it just looked… mad. Bolt jumped up into the skull's jawbone and walked down through the skeleton's throat to the rib cage. Suddenly he heard something explode near him and turned sharply to one side. One of the bones on the left side of the rib cage had been removed and he could see someone outside. …wait was that… himself? It looked like a copy of him… save the pupil colour. The Bolt outside laughed evilly.

"Have fun in the tunnel of madness!" he called. Bolt growled.

"What are you talking about?"

"Your death!" the Bolt replied, laughing insanely. Then he just vanished. Bolt cautiously walked out of the rib cage he looked to his right and it surprised him to see another dog just like the other one, only this one had blue eyebrows too. He also quickly vanished after Bolt looked away. Bolt was confused. He turned and began to walk back down the rib cage. The rib cage wound its way into a cave and Bolt spotted some glass cut into one section between two of the bones. Bolt didn't know why he wanted to smash it but he did, by staring at it and cutting a hole in it with his laser vision. As he looked back down the rib cage, he saw two more dogs, one with a blue neck and one with a blue tail. Their blue markings looked kind of like fire to him. Then, the dog with the blue tail swung his tail around and a fireball came from it, striking Bolt in the chest and knocking him to the floor. Bolt climbed to his feet and, with an evil laugh, banged into the fire tailed dog, shoving him into the wall. He turned to face the fire necked dog but he was nowhere to be seen. Bolt's eyebrows began to turn blue. He continued down the rib cage and jumped over a stream of lava, only to have to scramble to avoid another. Bolt found himself on an island surrounded by lava and other islands. On each island, there were two different versions of him. On an island to his left, there was a dog that looked like him, only with slitted pupils. His companion also had pink eyebrows. All of a sudden the two dogs vanished. Deciding he was supposed to go that way, Bolt leapt over to the island. Suddenly a plasma blast hit him in the side. Bolt looked up and saw another dog, this one with a flaming pink neck. Bolt snarled and super jumped over to the island. Before he landed, the dog jumped onto a ledge not far off. It fired a plasma blast into the lava and laughed evilly as a lava tidal wave erupted from it. Bolt super jumped to one of the bigger islands, leaving the wave of lava to crash down, engulfing the island he'd been standing on. Bolt turned away and looked across to another dog with a pink tail. He was sitting precariously on the edge of the lava pit. Bolt smiled evilly and head butted into him, knocking the dog into the lava. Bolt laughed his evil, insane laugh and his neck turned blue. Bolt began to make his way up an upturned rib cage. All of a sudden he slipped. Bolt clung desperately to the rib cage. A bubble of lava popped underneath him and hit one of his paws. Ouch that stung! Bolt managed to save himself with a super jump. He flopped onto the rib cage but then heard a crack. Suddenly the whole bridge fell away. Bolt grabbed one of the bones and tried to pull himself up. His back legs hit the lava. As much as it hurt him, he pushed off from it, managing to perform a super jump and ran along the rest of the rib cage back to the island. Bolt panted fast and hard. One of his back paws ached beyond belief but he pressed on, heading up a nearby hill. Upon cresting the hill he saw other dogs, one with abnormally long teeth, one with abnormally long claws, one with red eyes and one with brown eyebrows. But as soon as he saw them, they disappeared. Bolt turned and padded back the way he came. All the lava had drained off the engulfed island so he super jumped onto it and headed to the ledge the pink necked dog had jumped to. Another skull. Bolt headed down into the cave behind it. There was a purple dog in the cave, being thrown up and down by a blowhole.

" _That looks like fun._ " Thought Bolt. He shot a plasma blast at the dog knocking it off the blowhole and jumped into the stream instead.

"Wahoo!" Bolt howled as the blowhole bounced him through the air, onto a ledge on the other side of the cave. "That was fun." He said, his tail turning blue. Bolt made his way back to the top of the cave and leapt onto a rib cage segment that was floating in lava. The segment buckled under the sudden weight and a splash of lava hit on of Bolt's paws. Bolt yelped and jumped for the next segment of rib cage, hoping to the next one quickly after that and then to the bank. Bolt collided with a purple dog with a white neck and slammed him into the wall. "Oops." Bolt said, though he didn't really care. Bolt's pupils became slits. This cave was a dead end. Bolt made his way back out. Then he ran into Gus again… but the wolfdog looked just like him! Slitted green, yellow pupils, blue brows, neck and tail… Bolt snarled. "You again?"

"Just look at yourself." Gus growled, stepping aside and revealing a mirror. Bolt stared, stunned at what he saw. The reflection rippled into his usual self. He was asleep. Suddenly something appeared behind the normal Bolt. A dog with long canines, brown claws, green cat like eyes and blood red pupils. He'd seen that dog before.

"Wake up!" Bolt yelled at himself, slamming his paws against the mirror. The dog behind the real Bolt turned to look at him.

"Oh but I AM awake." He said in a low, teasing tone, pointing a paw at the sleeping Bolt and trapping him in a cage.

"No!" yelled Bolt.

"Until next time dog, only those travelling with me can visit the dark dimension." A portal appeared behind them and he kicked Bolt's cage through it, jumping in behind him.

"No!" Bolt charged at the mirror, smashing it with all his super strength and jumped after them just before the portal could close.


	11. Chapter 11: Crystal Glacier

Bolt flew out of the portal and skidded on the snow. Almost immediately he heard an evil laugh.

"Remember this place Bolt? Because I do! How could I forget the first place we crossed swords?"

"Because we didn't cross swords, we crossed paws." Bolt muttered and heard the laugh again.

"Good answer. But down to business. Come and get me… if you dare!" and with a laugh, the voice faded out. Bolt snarled and took a pace forward only to trip over. "Not so fast, Bolt!" the voice called and several ice blocks popped up. Each contained a clone of Bolt, every one of them with a slightly different feature to the normal Bolt. "Oops. It appears I've trapped your living insanity. Even if you saved yourself, without giving these dogs room to move, your powers will turn dark forever! And you yourself will eventually become just like me. Good luck 'super dog'!" then the voice laughed and faded for good. Bolt snarled hatefully and created a cloud of gas, sparking it. The gas blew up one of the ice blocks. One clone was safe. Bolts brows turned pink. Bolt melted another ice block with a plasma flame. Another clone saved. Bolt's neck turned pink. There was one more ice brick that he could see. Bolt blew it up with a cloud of gas. Bolt's tail turned pink. Bolt super jumped over the chasm and melted another ice block with a plasma flame. His canines lengthened a little. Bolt crashed into a big dark red and white dog. The dog turned. It had a pair of extremely long teeth. Bolt shuddered and knocked it back with an explosive cloud of gas. His claws lengthened a little. Bolt walked over to another ice brick and tried to melt it but nothing happened.

"No one said I was on a time limit!" Bolt snarled at no one in particular.

"Well you are now. Move your tail, super dog!" came a reply. Bolt made the ice brick explode with a cloud of gas. Bolt's eyes turned red. Then he heard growling behind him and turned to see the big dog again. Bolt knocked him back with a plasma blast and his brows turned brown. Bolt melted another ice brick with a lava blast, his fur turning purple. Twitching his ear to another noise he saw the big dog again and knocked him back with another plasma blast. Bolt's neck turned white and he turned around and saw that two of his clones were frozen again.

"This has to be cheating!" Bolt snarled. Someone laughed.

"Dogs like us never play fair. You'll learn that in time, super dog." Bolt snarled in rage and melted one ice brick with a lava blast and another with a plasma flame. Bolt's teeth lengthened and his claws grew longer. He torched the big dog he saw was climbing to his feet and super jumped to the next level of the mountain. Bolt half panted, half snarled, his eyes turned from red to cat like green. "Tired of powered enemies? What about something a bit more familiar?" Bolt looked around for the voice but only succeeded in finding his arch enemy. Bolt was too mad to care. He shot Gus with a plasma blast. Gus retaliated with fire and Bolt shot him again, knocking him back. Bolt's pupils turned blood red before he was knocked back by a surge of exploding gas. Bolt tried to retaliate but only succeeded in coughing smoke. Gus laughed and knocked him back with another surge of gas. Bolt charged and crashed into Gus head on, knocking him from the mountain. Unfortunately there was a ledge just below and the wolfdog was back moments later. Bolt snarled and pushed him back down with a plasma blast. Bolt's teeth grew slightly longer and sharper. Bolt leapt after Gus and flamed him while he was trying to climb back up. Gus fell from the wall and knocked Bolt back with a plasma blast. Bolt flamed Gus again and Gus fought back with another plasma blast. Bolt shot another jet of viscus fluid at his foe and Gus answered with another plasma blast. Bolt shot an explosive gas cloud at Gus and while he was on the floor, Bolt used a super jump to take his leave. He crossed a tree on his way up the mountain but then leapt forward as he heard something shooting through the air. The tree was then destroyed by one of Gus' plasma blasts. The wolfdog jumped up onto the path with him and Bolt pummelled him with a shot of viscous. Gus knocked him back with a plasma blast and Bolt shot right back with his own fire before getting hit with another plasma blast. Bolt sent Gus flying from the path with his own gas cloud and panted. Bolt's claws turned brown and he laughed. He finally understood.

"I created the sound of madness!" he howled, the sky darkening and lightning flashing through the sky. Bolt laughed madly and then stood calm, drawing in negativity. Bolt panted realizing what had been happening all this time, what he'd let happen. He should never have smashed that mirror. Seven years bad luck anyway, as the humans often said.

"Yes, that's right." Came a voice. Bolt looked up into the sky. "You are the master now. You can do whatever you want with this."

" _What if I don't want it?"_ Bolt thought. " _…I guess I just reverse it, and everything it's affected!"_ just then Bolt was interrupted by Gus hitting him with a plasma blast. But Bolt ignored him and fired a jet of powerful purple viscous fluid at an ice brick containing one of his clones. The block melted, releasing the clone. Bolt's claws lost their colour and the super dog panted, the absorbed negativity vanishing from his system. He whipped around and melted another ice brick with a plasma flame. Bolt's teeth became less sharp. He looked around excitedly for another ice brick and melted it with his fire. His pupils returned to normal colour. Bolt ran off to find something else to do. He saw a snow leopard trying to catch fish so he waited until one jumped up before torching it with his fire and knocking it from the water. The snow leopard ate the fish hungrily and Bolt's cat like green eyes turned red. The leopard moved on to the next hole and bolt moved with him. When a fish jumped up, Bolt hit it with a plasma blast, knocking it from the water. The snow leopard ate the fish and Bolt's claws grew shorter. Bolt could see the next fishing hole ahead so he walked over and, sure enough, the snow leopard followed him. As soon as a fish jumped up, Bolt hit it with an exploding cloud of gas. The snow leopard ate the fish and Bolt's teeth shortened. Smiling at the snow leopard, Bolt turned and made his way back down the mountain. All of a sudden, Bolt's enemy jumped in front of him, blocking his path. Gus had a threatening glare in his eyes that Bolt didn't like. He knocked him back with a plasma blast. Gus got up and flamed him. Bolt knocked him back with another plasma blast. Gus flamed Bolt again and another fire fight between the two began. Finally, Bolt managed to knock Gus off the mountain into an icy cold river below. But Bolt's teeth lengthened again.

"Why?" Bolt asked himself as he lay in the snow. "But… why? Why did this happen? Why did I have to be the one to save everyone? Why not somebody else?" Bolt sniffed then closed his eyes.


	12. Chapter 12: Breeze Harbour

"Are you telling me that all this time we just had to throw a sleeping dart at him?!" said one of Calico's goons in disbelief.

"It appears that way." Replied his friend, holding Bolt in a cage. The first goon stared at the super dog.

"Wonder how long he'll stay like that."

"I don't want to stick around a see!" said the goon with the cage, boarding the nearby ship and shoving him into the cargo hold.

"What about his friend?" the first goon asked, pointing at Dr. Hill.

"Well, this guy should get back to his owner, but it might be handy to have two super dogs on our side." The first goon laughed.

"That wolfdog is already too much for him."

"Especially since he breaths fire." Said the second goon, grinning behind his helmet.

Bolt lay motionless in the snow, defeated, his purple and white fur moved only by wind on the mountain. Bolt opened his red eyes momentarily but closed them almost instantly. Bolt's eyes snapped open again, furious and maddened. The super dog snarled and clambered to his feet, taking off through the snow. Bolt ran down the mountain and didn't stop until he reached the harbour. Bolt finally stopped and took notice of his surroundings. He was back in the city but everything seemed like it was through a black haze. Bolt saw two of Calico's goons at one of the ships and watched as they put a dog that looked just like he used to be onto the ship. Suddenly the helmet of one of the goons standing near the ship turned into Bolt's head but with cat like green eyes, blood red pupils and long sharp teeth.

"Heh, heh, heh. I just love the scrapes you get into while you're asleep." Said the dog before it turned back into the goon's helmet. For some reason, it filled Bolt with horror and rage. Bolt charged at the goon and knocked him into the water. The goon came splashing to the surface minutes later and Bolt growled, the urge to drown him almost too overpowering. His claws lengthened.

"Hey, learn some balance!" yelled one of the goons on the ship.

"Sorry! Something knocked me off!" called the goon in the water.

"Pfft. Likely story." Said the other goon, turning away. Bolt grinned evilly. They couldn't see him! Time to reap havoc. Bolt walked over to one of the crates standing around nearby and set it on fire with a jet of viscous fluid like fire. The fire mostly stuck to the wood, some of it rolling off and splashing everywhere. The crate began to burn. Bolt's claws shortened and he dashed away to a nearby crane. Bolt jumped onto a crate near the crane and shot a lava blast at the controls. The panel exploded and the goon inside screamed. Bolt laughed evilly. He ran over to another control panel. Looking at the monitor above it, Bolt saw it was some kind of security system. Deciding to test it out on the goon on deck, Bolt aimed and pawed the 'fire' button. The goon was suddenly electrocuted and knocked unconscious to the deck. Bolt gave an evil grin and used it to destroy a box nearby. A large amount of strophe packing peanuts exploded from the box and a guard ran over to check it out. Bolt fired again and the guard was electrocuted. Bolt laughed and jumped into the water. He swam under the boat and got out again, shaking himself dry. There were some goons guarding the cargo around here but Bolt didn't really care, just walking on by. The guards ignored him like he wasn't even there. To them, he wasn't. Bolt set one of the crates on fire and left quietly, his teeth beginning to grow shorter.

"Hey!" Bolt whipped around, afraid he'd been spotted, but the loud call was directed at one of the guards. "What on Earth is going on here?"

"I don't know it just burst into flames!" yelled another guard.

"Dreams are short dreams in the long dream of life, but if life's a dream, then what are dreams?" said a voice beside Bolt. Bolt turned and saw the dog with long teeth, long brown claws, cat like green eyes and blood red pupils again. The dog winked at him and faded.

"Well, if this is a dream, I don't want to ever wake up!" Bolt said to himself. Then he heard the boat moving. They couldn't leave! Not now! Bolt jumped into the water. He saw a rope tying the ship to the shore and burnt it, the fire travelling up the rope onto the ship. Bolt laughed and his white neck turned purple like the rest of his fur. Bolt jumped onto the bank and leapt onto the ship. He ran to the first guard he saw and grabbed him by the leg, tripping him up before throwing him off the ship. Bolt's neck turned white again.

"Learn to get a pair of sea legs!" yelled one of the guards down to the one who fell off. Bolt stalked into a corner and set the ship's deck on fire. He grinned an evil grin and his neck fur turned purple again. When a goon rushed over with a bucket of water and put it out, Bolt knocked him overboard and laughed evilly, his neck fur turning white. Bolt jumped off the ship and super jumped up to the harbour control room. There he used a security system similar to the other one to electrocute three more guards on deck and even blow up a box. After that, Bolt blew it up so they couldn't use it against him. His neck fur turned purple again. He noticed a sail boat sailing out to the ship and jumped down onto it. When the ship hauled the boat up, Bolt kicked one of the goons off. Everyone, including Bolt laughed at the goon floundering in the water and Bolt's neck turned white. Then he jumped over to a crane that was lifting more crates onto the ship, knocking the goon controlling it out and used it to knock four more guards off the ship.

"Hey! Watch what you're doing!" one of the goons yelled at the unconscious goon he assumed was controlling the crane. Bolt laughed and leapt from the crane onto the boat that the goons in the water were climbing onto. When they reached the ship's deck, he leapt onto it and ran across the ship and dived into the water on the other side. After swimming to shore, Bolt found the other security system again and electrocuted another guard, knocking him from the boat into the water. The other goons were suddenly alert.

"Why is our system malfunctioning?" one of the goons asked himself. Bolt laughed evilly and hitched a ride back to the ship on another row boat. He then turned and knocked one of the guards off the boat with a lava blast. Bolt laughed evilly, his teeth lengthening. He looked to the rest of the goons.

"I'm sorry, but as of right now, I'm taking control of this ship!" he snarled, suddenly feeling very non playful. He whirled around and singled out a guard, shooting him with a lava blast. Bolt's claws grew longer. He charged at another guard, knocking him off the ship. His eyes turned a cat like green as he shot another guard with a lava blast before charging at the last guard. Bolt's pupils turned blood red and his teeth sharpened. Having gotten rid of all the guards, Bolt set fire to another crate. His teeth shortened again. But then two more guards climbed on top of the ship. Bolt knocked them right back down with the lava blast. Bolt's teeth sharpened again and his claws turned brown. Bolt panted, negative energy began to seep into him. Bolt snarled and released it in a burst of purple viscous fluid like fire, setting fire to a crate. Bolt's claws lost their colour and the negative energy vanished. Bolt turned.

"Tell me all your secrets, doggy, doggy. Come on, let me in!" one of the goons was knelt down by Bolt's cage. No way. Bolt crashed into him and threw him off the ship. Bolt's claws turned brown and the negative energy returned. Bolt drew in a deep breath and let it go in a massive stream of purple viscous flame, burning the cage and the crates around it. Bolt's claws returned to their normal colour and the super dog smiled. The cage bars were severely weakened and Bolt bent them with no trouble at all.

"Sorry Bolt…" Bolt whispered, grabbing himself with his enormously long, sharp teeth and pulling him onto his back. Bolt experience a little bit of pain in his neck but he shook it off and jumped onto a crane which took him back to the ground. Bolt found Dr. Hill's cage and bent the bars, dragging him out and putting him on his back too before fleeing the harbour.


	13. Chapter 13: Zephyr

"Wake up Bolt! Please?" Bolt looked at the sleeping American White Shepard and sighed. Suddenly he heard a yelp of fright and whipped around to see Isai being chased by a dog with green, yellow like eyes and blue flecks on his forehead, neck and tail. Bolt charged at the dog, sinking his fangs into its neck. The dog yelped in pain and tried to get away from the intense pain in its neck, eventually turning and dashing into the wooden hut nearby and through the portal at Zephyr. On the other side, Bolt looked around surprised. There were several other dogs just like the one he was hanging onto. Bolt drove his fangs deeper into the dog's neck until he fell motionless. Bolt huffed out a ring of purple smoke as his claws turned brown again. He looked around and noticed some golden coloured dogs with beautiful golden eyes throwing rocks at the other dogs. The rocks didn't have much effect and the dogs were rapidly advancing, getting madder with each hit from the rocks. Bolt couldn't bear to see a bloody fight. Enraged, he charged forward, purple viscous fluid pouring from his mouth like a volcano. Three dogs went down on his first assault. Two more on his second, then a dog with green, yellow eyes and slitted pupils with pink flecks on his forehead, neck and tail and a pair of abnormally long fangs and claws came swooping down with a makeshift hang glider attached to him and bowled Bolt over. Bolt climbed to his feet and saw another one coming. He shot an explosive purple plasma blast and shot the dog from the sky. Bolt looked to see another blue dog approaching and rolled his eyes, letting fly another burst of purple viscous that made the dog topple. Bolt ran over to one of the golden dogs trying to shoot down the hang gliding pink dogs with stones firing from a cannon. "Step aside." He said lowly. The golden dog let him use the cannon and Bolt shot down three of the dogs, as well as knocking down two brick walls. Bolt jumped down from the cannon and headed through the first brick wall. A big dog with red eyes, brown flecks on his forehead, a white neck, purple fur and huge teeth and claws threw a barrel of TNT at him. Bolt jumped over and shot a purple lava blast at the barrels of TNT beside him. The TNT exploded and threw him against the wall. There was another one further down the corridor. Bolt shot a purple lava blast at the TNT barrel in his mouth. It exploded and threw him against the wall. There was yet another one in a small chamber further down the corridor. Bolt shot another purple lava blast at the TNT in his mouth which exploded and sent him rolling across the ground. There was a blue dog up ahead. Bolt fixed him with a jet of purple viscous. He made his way up some stairs and ran down another corridor, firing a viscous jet at two more blue dogs before jumping over a barrel of TNT that was thrown at him by a purple dog. But the purple dog grabbed another barrel and tossed it right into him. The TNT exploded and sent Bolt rolling backwards across the ground. Bolt climbed to his feet and fixed the dog with a purple plasma blast. In the courtyard ahead there was an abandoned cannon. Bolt used it to shoot one of the pink dogs from the sky and destroy another wall. Bolt climbed down from the cannon and jumped the gap to the wall he'd destroyed. Standing in the room was another purple dog. Bolt saw what was coming but there was little he could do about it. The TNT hit him mid-air and sent him plummeting to the ground below. Bolt huffed and went through a nearby cave. There he saw one of the golden dogs crying. "What's wrong?" Bolt asked it. The dog turned around to look at him and surprise came over his face.

"You, you're one of the most powerful dark ones here… but you're not like the others, are you?" Bolt shook his head. "Ok, well, that dog up there was captured, please help me save her!" Bolt looked up to the high prison. In the cage was a beautiful golden coated dog with colourless red eyes, its fur stuck up like spines. Bolt blinked and leapt from the cave, over the defensive trench and shot out a blast of purple viscous at two blue dogs guarding the high cage. Then he super leapt up to a bridge and had to jump again to avoid being pelted by two barrels of TNT from two purple dogs standing guard up there. Bolt jumped so high, he landed flopping on his stomach and had to jump again as another set of barrels were thrown. He didn't jump so high this time and let fly with a purple blast of viscous as soon as he landed. A barrel of TNT exploded in one of the purple dogs' mouth, knocking him from the bridge but before Bolt could turn completely, he had to sidestep to avoid two more rolling barrels. Bolt blew up the third barrel the last purple dog had and exploded him off the bridge. Aiming his jump carefully, Bolt super leapt to the cage and crashed through one wall.

"Ah!" the golden dog guarded herself with one paw against the falling debris.

"I'm getting you out of here!" Announced Bolt, bending the bars of the cage.

"Oh thank you!" she said, jumping down from the cage. Bolt leapt after her.

"We'll take it from here." Said the golden eyed dog and Bolt ran back through the cave. On the other side, he super leapt back up to the room he'd been knocked from earlier and let fly with the purple viscous blast. The dog was knocked from the room and Bolt sidestepped to avoid another exploding barrel from another dog across the bridge. Bolt strode forward and stepped into the clear, only to be pelted by another exploding barrel that knocked him back. Bolt jumped two more barrels and shot a perfectly timed purple plasma blast at the dog who had hit him, knocking him off the bridge with the exploding TNT barrel in his mouth. But then he himself was dive bombed off the bridge by one of the pink hang gliding dogs. Snarling with rage, Bolt leapt back onto the bridge and charged across it. Bolt took cover while a few exploding barrels rolled past and then stepped into the clear, jumping over two barrels and shooting purple gas everywhere. The purple dog stopped tossing barrels confused by all the gas. Bolt sparked the gas and a massive blue explosion of TNT erupted, knocking the purple dog off the bridge. Bolt jumped onto a ramp and jumped over several other TNT barrels before shooting the barrel in the purple dog at the top of the ramp's mouth with a purple plasma blast. At the top of the ramp there was another abandoned cannon and Bolt used it to shoot down two of the hang gliding pink dogs. Bolt shot down a brick wall and a golden dog appeared from nowhere and ran inside. Bolt peered inside and saw lots of TNT. Before he could even comprehend what was going on, the whole thing blew up. The golden dog that had done it wasn't hurt.

"Wow! That was a big explosion." He said, leaving the tower. "You should go. Now." He said to Bolt with solemn eyes. Suddenly they were dive bombed by two pink dogs. Bolt quickly downed them with a couple of lava blasts. The golden dog looked around panicked. "Get out of here!" she told him before running off. Bolt followed him but as he reached the portal he was thrown aside.

"Betrayed by my own kind. I should've expected nothing less from you!" Bolt swung around and saw him, another him. That same him who captured him back in the Badlands. Bolt snarled. "I am putting an end to the traitors once and for all!" he growled, then spun around, whipping Bolt with his tail. The super dog hit the wall. His body screamed at him as he felt a trickle of blood run down his fur. Bolt still stood and charged again. The other dog flattened his tail like a blade but Bolt wouldn't take the menacing warning so the dog thwacked him with it. Bolt dodged and tried to fight back but the other dog was a death machine. Bolt smashed into the wall. "Fool! I've told you before you can't beat yourself! Now your lust for power will be your demise!" the dog took another step forward before he was pelted by rocks. The dog growled and turned to him. "If you survive this, I'll get you later!" he said before turning tail and running. Bolt panted hard then closed his eyes. Unconsciousness came instantly. The golden dogs saw Bolt vanish like a whisper of smoke.


	14. Chapter 14: Metro City

Bolt opened his eyes.

"…Amelia?" the Labrador blinked.

"Saw you two asleep in Autumn Plains and dragged you back here. Husky got you again?" Bolt stood.

"No, sleeping darts this time."

"Ah, I see, ambush." Amelia shook her head. "Let me guess, the black clad idiots. They care nothing for us."

"Most probably. Where am I now?"

"Back in Metro City. At my house."

"Great. I better go; I got a Husky to find."

"Don't worry Bolt, I did it for you!"

"What?!" Bolt almost fell over backwards.

"Normally, I wouldn't get involved in this kind of business. But eh, I figured being the front line of the Labrador grapevine most often, I could make an exception. Tonight in Metro City, there's a race on. That Husky and his creepy owner are entered. I could enter you too if you'd like."

"Hmm…" Bolt weighed the risk. "I'm not sure if it's a good idea. Knowing him, he'll probably cheat if he sees me there."

"Nah, they have strict boundaries against fighting on the track." Bolt laughed.

"Well, if they can keep him in check I suppose it'd be ok."

"Great. Let me sign you up quickly." Amelia disappeared from the room. She returned a few minutes later. "Done, let's go, quickly!"

"Wait, what about Dr. Hill?"

"If he wakes up, he'll know where he is. He can sure get around you know. He'll just make himself comfortable, probably by drinking my water." Amelia gave a small laugh. "My humans are going to be out until late. They won't find him; we'll be back before they get home."

Bolt tried to keep his balance on the wobbly fence.

"You always sit HERE to watch these things?"

"Oh yeah." Replied Amelia, sitting on the fence like there was nothing to it. "Pretty much the best view aside from the tower up there." Bolt flicked his ears, his supersonic hearing easily picking up the voices over the loudspeaker.

"It's starting!" he barked, actually finding himself kind of excited as he leapt from the fence and ducked under the people moving into a disorganised line at the barrier. "Wish me luck." He called over his shoulder as he disappeared into the crowd.

"Good luck kiddo!" Amelia called after him. "Although I'm sure you don't need it." She whispered to herself. Bolt sidled up beside Gus with a half grin and set his focus on the track ahead.

"You're all going down… into the DIRT!" Gus finished his threat to the other dogs that were in all honesty; already too scared to try and think about beating him for fear of what he might do to them. Gus swung his head back to the track in front of him, an overconfident grin on his face. Before he spotted Bolt out the corner of his eye. "You!" Gus swung on him, his head so close that they almost touched noses. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I'm here to kick your tail." Bolt replied smugly. Gus looked up into the stars and bright lights of the city and huffed.

"It's night time." He said half to Bolt half to himself before leaning down to the super dog. "I'm going to turn you into kibble." He growled. Bolt flicked his gaze to him.

"Just try it." He challenged, an insane grin spreading over his face as his left pupil flashed red. Gus pulled away from him with a gasp, locked his jaws together and shook himself violently before leaning down to prepare for take-off.

"You'd better not try any super speed dog." he growled silently, but made sure Bolt heard him. _BANG_ the start gun sounded and the dogs dashed off. Gus instantly took the lead. He was faster than any of them. Bolt tried his hardest to keep up but he knew he'd never be able to match him for any length of time through the rises and dips he saw far ahead. He closed his eyes, his speed began to increase. Decimal by decimal… and then he twisted his base speed of 2.8km per hour to 5.8, which was Gus' speed now. Gus didn't like that pace, he would much rather run at 58km per hour which was his normal base speed but Calico had instructed him to tone it down so no one would know he was a super dog. And Gus, loving as ever, had obeyed. With the super speed, Bolt easily kept pace with the wolfdog and the best thing was that it was such a subtle change, no one would know. They reached the first rise, neck and neck and sped along the next straight and reached the first dip.

"What?!" they both exclaimed as they saw it was filled with spines. Their super reflexes kicked in and they both jumped over. Gus hit the ground running and Bolt did a triple flip in mid-air so he could match Gus' performance. Bolt looked back over his shoulder and saw the other dogs moving through the spikes, some jumping on and over some of them. They were only foam. Bolt growled at himself for being so stupid and looked back just in time to jump through the gap between two hurdles. They reached the second dip and ran through it with no trouble at all due to the lack of spiny obstacles. There was another double hurdle directly after the ditch's rise and they both jumped through with no trouble. Bolt got ahead of Gus and looked back over his shoulder with a cheeky grin, noticing one of the other dogs had caught up in the process. Bolt slid down the third dip in first but Gus over took him on the ditch's rise. Bolt leapt over him when he ran down into the fourth ditch, landing in front and making it out ahead of him. But then he checked over his shoulder and almost tripped. Gus ran past him again and Bolt growled at himself again, using his super speed to recover and levelling out the distance. As they drew level, he and Gus struggled for fist position, jumping over the next ditch in an attempt to get it. When that didn't work, they jumped the second ditch, this one with spines in it. That didn't work either and now they bulldozed down the third dip which ran straight for a while before encountering a spiny patch which they just jumped because the rise was directly after. They jumped the gap between another two hurdles and hurtled into the next ditch. Another one with a spiny patch at the end. They leapt onto the rise, still neck and neck with each other. Then they slid into the next ditch and ran along the straight for a while until Bolt managed to get ahead. The super dog panted. This sure was hard work! Then he got an expected boost from his super speed and slid across the finish line. He panted fast and hard. As far as he was concerned, he was done for the night. Gus' sides heaved, more from anger than exhaustion.

"*pant* I guess… *pant, pant* I'm out of here then… *pant*" said Bolt breathlessly. Gus growled a livid growl and Bolt dashed away, the wolfdog chasing after him.


	15. Chapter 15: Superdog Cleanup

Lightning flashed through the sky as the rain pelted down. Bolt's fur sagged as he shot through the city. If not for his super speed, he would've been pummelled by now. Instead he happily shot along at 150km per hour while Gus lagged far behind at 58km per hour. Eventually Bolt stopped and panted heavily. Night running wasn't really his thing. More lightning flashed and he took off again. Eventually he ran out of the city, up towards the cliff. Then he heard rotor blades cutting through the rain. Bolt looked up to see one of CaliCorp's helicopters. Bolt increased his speed again as it began to shoot at him with its inbuilt machine gun. Bolt grinned, easily outrunning the bullets. Then he heard a missile being fired. Bolt stopped dead and swung around, catching the trail of fire in the sky as it swerved towards him. Bolt ran under it and it changed direction, locking onto him. Bolt leapt straight up and over the helicopter. Everyone watched in bewilderment then…

"Move you idiot!" yelled Calico and the helicopter swerved to avoid the incoming missile, nearly crashing into the ground in the process.

"Sorry tree!" said Bolt, landing on one of its branches and jumping to the ground on the other side. The missile came shooting after him and blew up the tree. Bolt let out a sharp breath and whipped around, growling. All of a sudden Gus caught up with him and stood there, growling him his face. Bolt was taken back at first but then growled and head butted him, sending him flying. Bolt's eyes flashed a green, yellow colour as he tapped one paw on the ground a couple of times before grinning and leaping at the helicopter, thwacking into it and shoving it off course. Bolt pushed away from it and landed in an explosion of dust, that grin plastered all over his face. Gus climbed to his feet and leapt at him in rage, making a thud so powerful it launched a cloud of dust into the air. Bolt went shooting past him at the last second and spun around to face him. Gus whirled around and spotted Bolt, one corner of his mouth turning upwards as she prepared his next attack. Bolt lowered his head and snarled his challenge, stamping one paw on the ground and creating another puff of dust. Gus charged and knocked him back. Bolt flew through the air and landed on his front he was up again almost instantly but having real trouble finding air. The super dog leapt at his foe and Gus rolled onto his back. The action was one that surprised Bolt and his attack lacked any real authority because of it. He just stood on Gus' tummy a bit surprised, until he felt him shift and something yanking on his collar. As Gus flung him back, Bolt managed to score a hit on the back of his enemy's head, thrusting his almost flying body into the action. Bolt jumped back onto the ground. He pawed at it slightly; several ivory flecks appeared on his forehead but disappeared quickly. Gus rolled onto his front, his muscles were aching slightly. He succeeded in raising his tail in the air, then slowly the rest of his body, the effort clear on his face. Then, he grinned. Bolt flicked an ear, something about the look on his face was… off. Bolt grinned too, he wasn't playing this game. Slowly the grin became a snarl, then he let fly of a weak super bark. Gus was thrown back, but in the smoke it caused, he found his feet and dashed behind Bolt. Being Dash Attacked from behind knocked Bolt to the ground, the area where Gus had hit him screamed. Bolt tried to pull himself back to his feet but fell, panting. He licked one shoulder and then smiled. Closing his eyes with the effort, he pushed himself to his feet and turned, growling. Gus' muscles still ached but he still glared daggers at his foe and, drawing a deep breath, began to charge up a fire blast. Bolt stared grimly at him then his eyes widened and he gasped with realization, backing off a pace and snarling before dashing away and jumping back into the city. Bolt waited until Gus caught up with him. "Why do you do this to yourself?" Bolt asked with a snarl. He didn't expect an answer. He didn't get one. Bolt's neck and tail flashed blue as he looked around for another place to go or something to attack with. In the end, he just smiled and snarled. But the attack he expected didn't come from Gus. Instead it came from the helicopter's machine gun. Bolt dashed away. When he reached cover, he just lay with his back to the world, waiting for the hail of bullets to stop. "So, you dare to let your dog distract me and then shoot, do you?" Bolt muttered, sitting up and turning around, almost instantly placing his paws in a particular way. Bolt crouched low to the ground, holding his breath before sharply shifting his weight and barking a single, loud, Earth shattering bark. Everything seemed to stop. Bolt let out a breath and panted before smiling and scratching one ear nonchalantly. Then he stood up and bared his teeth to whatever was in the smoke. Everything was still. Bolt lay down again and yawned before slowly rising to his feet and heading towards the smoke. No time for naps, a super dog's work is never done. Bolt shot off. "There's more where that came from, Calico." Bolt muttered. He thought back to when Calico didn't have a super dog of his own, where he could create a smoking blackout and have confidence that there wasn't someone still alive behind it, where everyone feared him because they had nothing that could stop him, where he never felt the kind of pain he was enduring now, where one grumpy look could send CaliCorp guards running, where there was no chance they'd have him in a cage, where he had a chance to have time to relax, where he could be as overconfident as he liked, where he truly felt indestructible with nothing and no one to rival his power. Bolt shot through a CaliCorp car just because he felt like it. He looked back at the wreck cockily, his pupils flashing into slits for a second before he huffed. Then he lost himself and laughed. Then he cut off abruptly as he picked up something with his supersonic hearing. Bolt swung around to look through the smoke and sure enough, there was his favourite red foe. Bolt dashed off again. Playtime was over. Something exploded behind him. Gee, he must've made Gus made because the wolfdog was shooting lava blasts after him. Bolt was sick of being target practice. He whirled around, forcing Gus to stop. Just in case he didn't, Bolt lowered his head. But he did and Bolt looked up at him with an icy glare, jumping at him. Gus jumped up to meet him and there was a sickening crunch as their heads collided. But Gus was stronger than Bolt, sending him flying back onto his back. Bolt bounced off the ground, falling on his front where he bounced again and landed on his head, then his tail, before he went rolling onto his front. Even after that terrible beating, Bolt opened his eyes and climbed to his feet, charging into Gus and attacking until he was sure he'd given the wolfdog a fair bit of what he'd just experienced. Bolt shook his pain away and snarled, pink flecks appearing on his forehead, but they vanished instantly. Bolt grabbed Gus by his tail and spun around, throwing him back. Gus got up and started firing lava blasts again. Bolt dodged the flames and started progressing forwards, until he leapt up through the fire and crashed down onto Gus, smashing him into the ground. Bolt jumped back and waited for him to get up. When the showed even the slightest hint of thinking about it, Bolt smashed him deeper into the ground. After a quick pant, Bolt charged off again.


	16. Chapter 16: Super Oasis

Bolt paused, finding himself on the beach. He looked around, no enemies. Good. The super dog began to trek forwards along the beach, his ear flicked occasionally to the sound of the waves. Deserted in the dark as it was, the beach seemed almost eerie. The rain has stopped a little while ago and Bolt was thankful for it, at least there was no added cold or wetness to gradually seep into him. He looked over at the Aqua Towers as he walked past the ferry dock. The jetty where the ferry sat was eerie and quiet. Head down, Bolt walked for a long, LONG time after that. Eventually he looked up and saw a dusty, sanded path leading off the beach. Bolt took the path up to a barren, dusty field looking area. He began to traverse it and as he progressed, the path became more and more sandy. He kept walking and eventually saw a stone wall surrounding a peaceful looking village. Bolt blinked and flicked his ears back before walking over. A guard stood just inside the wall but he paid no attention to Bolt. Standing nearby was a cream coloured American Spaniel staring up at a berry bush. Bolt walked over and asked it what it was doing.

"I'm trying to figure out why those guys want these berries so much… I'd love to study one but I'm not strong enough to knock one down." Bolt promptly shook the bush violently with one paw and a couple of berries dropped from it. "Gee thanks." The American Spaniel rolled one of the berries closer and started to investigate. Bolt stared at one of them. He was pretty hungry…

" _Oh what the hell."_ He thought, grabbing one and gulping it down. It didn't really taste like anything, but if he had to pick, he would have to say it was sweet. Bolt shivered, energy beginning to course through his system. He just wanted to burn something… and he didn't really care what it was. Bolt yawned, puff of smoke coming out of his throat and rising into the air. A dying fire was in the centre of town. Bolt padded over and only had to do so much as blow before magnesium flame shot out and sent the fire burning merrily away. Warmth began to surround the area. Bolt yawned again, smoke puffing out of his throat and rising into the air. Bolt carefully pawed a log from the fire and lit it up with another short blast of magnesium before taking it over the stone wall and slotting it into a torch holder. After looking around, Bolt walked into a stone building nearby. The next few minutes happened so fast, Bolt barely calculated his situation. As soon as he walked in, there was a shout, followed by the buzz of an electric glove… and then he was moving. Leaping up and over the table in the room where several red fruits were sitting. Bolt grabbed one and gulped it down. It was juicy, sweet, crisp and crunchy and tasted distinctly like apple. Btu it made Bolt feel alive. The guard could never have anticipated the plasma blast that came next. It was an instant kill and threw him against the wall. There were movements behind the curtain joining this room to another part of the house. Bolt crawled under it and saw more guards pulling on their electric gloves. Before they had time to get ready, Bolt crawled out and attacked a guard near a bookcase first a guard was running at him from behind. Bolt leapt onto his front paws, back legs lashing out and pounding into the goon's chest sending him flying across the room. Bolt turned and shot a lava blast after him before staring down the last guard. He had a ranged attack on his glove, so Bolt would have to be careful… then the guard made a break for the nearby door and caught Bolt by surprise. With a growl, Bolt chased him into a smaller stone hut nearby where he caught him in the back with a lava blast, sending him flying into a curtain, causing it to fall from its track on the ceiling. Bolt panted smoke, recovering after having to react so quickly. Then, the smoke gradually turned to steam and Bolt walked out of the hut and into the next house. There were no guards in this one. Just people. Bolt huffed and smoke came from his nose before dissipating into steam. He explored through the house, finding some rocks hidden in a bookcase in one of the bedrooms that provided a temporary distraction before he left and walked into another stone building. Inside, everyone was asleep. Bolt could tell by the vials of strange substances and medical supplies that this was a doctor's surgery. There was a plate of fruit on one desk and a couple of vials filled with a strange red liquid beside it. But there was one with nothing in it and Bolt decided that they must use the plants for some form of healing. Bolt helped himself to one of the fruits on the desk. It had a crisp, juicy, melon like flavour that seemed to cleanse him. Bolt's body hardened like he'd been enveloped in iron casting.


	17. Chapter 17: Magma Cove

There was a curtain at the back of the room and Bolt had a look behind it. There lay a man clad in CaliCorp's standard black armour sleeping. Bolt's eyes widened and he instantly growled as his fur spiked up, pointed and dangerous. Then, a picture of that dog that marketed himself as Bolt flashed through the super dog's mind. Bolt watched the dog as it ruthlessly killed the man lying in front of him in his sleep. The snarl and angry expression faded from Bolt's face. It was such a cheap shot, to kill the goon in his sleep. Bolt physically began shaking. It was something easy and definitely something he was more than capable of. At the same time… perhaps it was him who had caused the man to be lying here now. Bolt's ears folded back and he began to have trouble breathing. He'd believed with every fibre of himself that these suits were all there was to these men; no one was behind the masks they wore. He'd believed that, somehow, they weren't human, none of them the same creature as Penny. But now he confronted that very fact. They spoke the same language and had roughly the same structure and mortality as her. How many of these people had he killed and harmed beyond repair in his quest to recover Penny and her father and keep them both safe. He hadn't even bothered counting. He thought Calico was bad. He was just plain cruel. This man could have a family out there, kids, no different from Penny. And here he was an almighty super dog, about to cheaply kill him in his sleep. Bolt stomach turned as he backed away. He felt sick. His super powers were now terrifying him. He turned tail and ran from the building. There was one last stone hut to the North. It was deserted except for a note on a bookcase that read: 'the party has been cancelled due to the incident to the east.' " _What do I have to lose?"_ Bolt asked himself as he turned and began to run out of the village, eastward and away from the civilization. Eventually he happened across an empty and deserted shack in a really dry location. He had the feeling that this area had been decimated by whatever devastated it relatively recently, within the last week. The only thing Bolt found in the shack was a scorpion. Bolt thought briefly about letting it sting him, but as an indestructible super dog, there was no point.


	18. Chapter 18: Fractured Heart

Bolt lay in one corner of the empty shack. It reflected him exactly, empty. He'd been sent by Dr. Forrester to keep Penny safe. She was his chest of diamond and gold. Had he succeeded? No. heck no. he was thinking about this when he saw through half closed eyes that this house was actually awake. Shadows were stretching across the floor. But why? Monsters? Bolt's ears flicked as the tin holding the shack together groaned in the wind, the echoes of the groans bounced off every surface of the place. Bolt's throat seemed dry as he listened to the horrific audio onslaught that seemed only more eerie and ominous as he paid attention to his thoughts. They told him only one thing which was that he was one of the only living things in this building, and thus, HE must be the monster. Bolt sat alone in the corner until morning, crying, speculating that maybe those shadows were coming for him because of what he'd done. How could he possibly hold those secrets inside him? The thoughts of his actions sickened him.

Dawn was well and truly here. Bolt had spent the past hour or so pacing around. The slightest of sounds made had scared him and made him jump. He might have berated himself for such weakness if he hadn't felt so desolate by the thought of what he'd become. There was no way he could stand the dog inside him, if there was a mirror, he would've smashed it, or at least turned it around.


	19. Chapter 19: Scorch

After ages of pacing, Bolt set out into the heat of the day. The landscape was lonely and desolate, a reflection of how Bolt felt. He travelled southwest until he found an encampment of CaliCorp goons. There was a brick building surrounded by several tents and a tin shack. It didn't really matter what it was for, as all CaliCorp men, they seemed trained to attack Bolt on sight, weather he was in the mood or not. It was surprising how much living things thought noise affected their performance in combat. Practically everyone yelled as they charged forward. Bolt flicked his ears ever so slightly, looking along the ranks of people running towards him with electrified gloves. There were at least 14 of them, nothing he couldn't deal with, but… the confrontation frightened Bolt to no end. He _had_ been scanning their faces, but when he blinked, his dropped his eyes slightly, as if he were uncertain, before he eventually gave in and let his head flop to stare at his paws. Then he let his eyes close for a good long minute. The heat wasn't helping, his emotions weren't helping, what was happening wasn't helping. Nothing was on his side. He half opened his eyes. He needed to make a decision and fast. Bolt looked at the oncoming goons sympathetically. He hated what he had to do. Sighing, the super dog got to his feet. " _Might as well get this over with quickly"_ he thought as he took his right forepaw and placed it in front of him. Then he took his left hind paw and placed it behind him, holding his breath and crouching, eye closed, allowing energy to flow from his core to his lungs and then… Bolt opened his eyes. He looked out the corner of his eye to the goons and turned his head back up to look at them, letting his breath go as he did. They were so close. Tears pricked the super dog's eyes. What he was being forced to do pained him so much, but the goons were too close now. His indestructability made the option of death now impossible. Bolt had never thought it would come to his. His immortality was taunting him. He never thought it'd be possible. Bolt dropped his eyes, about to sink into despair, but then the yells off the goons, so close to him now, pulled him violently back to reality. Bolt rapidly drew in a deep breath… and barked. The colossal sound wave pierced the air like a gunshot. Sand and dirt was violently snatched up from the ground, rolling towards the goons like a sandstorm. Bolt covered his eyes with his right paw, partly to shield them from the dirt but partly so he didn't have to watch the destruction unfold. The screams of pain and fear from the goons tortured Bolt's ears. It seemed like the storm lasted hours. When it eventually stopped, Bolt blinked and took his paw away to look up. The devastation was brutal. Goons lay everywhere, lifeless, the tents all torn up and carelessly dumped as if a whirlwind had swept the area. The shack was torn apart and bits of tin were strewn everywhere like a careless toddler had dropped its toys all over the place. Even the building was all caved in and broken. Bolt stared.

"…hello?" he half whimpered, half barked. He might've felt silly, but he didn't even care now. "Anybody out there?" he barked. But he didn't hear a sound. He was alone. He had no idea where the rest of the world was, but boy, did he miss it. Tears stung his eyes as he stared at the destruction he'd caused. Bolt howled out to see if there was anything alive, using pretty much all the air available to him, but there was nothing. His echo was the only voice that came back. Bolt looked at the ground, desolate. The shadow of himself cast by the hot sun was the only friend he had. Slowly, Bolt walked through the mess he'd created, staring wide eyed at the pieces tossed carelessly on the floor. When he'd past through, he turned to look one last time before wandering, head hung through the landscape again. He wished he could close his eyes and pretend it was alright, but that wouldn't be enough. All he wanted was to see Penny again. But until then, it was just him, his echo, and shadow. Eventually he reached a clifftop, overlooking a valley of buildings. "Hello?" Bolt called. This had to be a hallucination. "anybody out there?"


	20. Chapter 20: Super Dog Overlook

"Yes, there is at least one person out there." Said a voice from behind him. Bolt blinked, looking up. He hadn't expected a reply. Bolt looked over his shoulder, but the reception was decidedly anticlimactic. He'd expected a canine but not this one.

"Oh… it's… you." Bolt said, trying to appear casual before he turned his head back around, allowing his ears to droop again. A shocked look crossed Gus's face briefly.

"Of course it's me." Gus said, hiding the slight shock at his action with anger. "What do you think you're doing here anyway?"

"Nothing." Bolt sighed sadly.

"DO YOU THINK I'm going to swallow that story?" Gus growled, baring his teeth even more.

"Why wouldn't you?" Bolt moaned. Gus looked shocked for a second, but he bulldozed over the fact.

"Pardon me?! Just look down there!" the wolfdog growled. Bolt looked down into the valley again, there were several soldiers clad in black moving about the buildings, as well as CaliCorp logos everywhere. "So, you must understand why I cannot let you live." Gus said in a decidedly evil voice. Bolt leapt to his feet and turned. He started to back away but then his foot slipped. Bolt scrambled for the ledge he was standing on as he heard the clang of pebbles tumbling back into the valley below. Bolt couldn't help himself but look over the edge and suddenly felt his heart start racing when he realized how far it really was. Bolt looked back at his enemy just in time to catch a glimpse of his leap. Dashing forwards, Bolt easily slid under. Gus landed, sliding out to the edge, sending more pebbles cascading off the cliff like a rock waterfall. The wolfdog couldn't have cared less and just charged at Bolt with another leap before the super dog could recover. Fortunately, the wolfdog was given away by his shadow and Bolt managed to leap out of the way. Landing over by a pole holding up some wires feeding power into the base below, Bolt chewed through the wood, causing the pole to fall on Gus. The wolfdog yelped and stood to his feet shakily. Gus growled as his throat glowed orange. Bolt began to back away but Gus fired two lava blasts at him. One of them landed right in front of him. Bolt yelped, jumping back right into the path of the second, which had been fired higher than the first, and was sent sliding along the ground. Gus took another two shots to kick him while he was down, but Bolt managed to get up and jump away. He hid behind a tree, but then Gus let go a jet of magnesium that set the tree burning like a torch. Bolt leapt out from behind it and only just avoided the near perfectly timed plasma blast. The next two blasts of gas had Bolt desperately jumping out of their way. Then the ring of power glowed and a plasma blast shot out of Bolt's mouth, striking Gus and sending him sliding. The wolfdog got up instantly with another leap. Bolt rolled out of his way, skidding dangerously close to the edge. While Gus rained plasma blasts on him, Bolt grabbed a stone and began to heat it up in his mouth. The next time Gus charged at him, he spat the plasma heated rock into his face. The wolfdog screamed in pain, stopping to massage the spot where he'd been hit with one paw. Bolt grinned but Gus recovered quickly, leaping over right in front of him. Bolt jumped back with a yelp, nearly falling off the cliff. As he scrambled to stay on the ledge, rocks cascaded into the valley like rain. When at last he managed to get back on his paws, he suddenly found Gus very large. The wolfdog growled at him. "There is only one super dog." he thrust his head forward but Bolt jumped back… straight off the cliff. The super dog grappled desperately with the ledge, but Gus had other plans, raising a paw to push him down for good. But, Bolt had other ideas, shooting a plasma blast right into Gus's face and causing him to stumble back so Bolt could haul himself up. Gus wasn't impressed to say the least, and began madly firing plasma blasts at the super dog. Bolt jumped from the cliff ledge, hanging onto a rock with one paw, waiting for the onslaught to end before pulling himself back up. Gus growled furiously, surging forward and almost falling off the cliff as Bolt jumped back over to his rock. Gus growled again, breathing gas all around the cliff ledge.

" _Uh oh"_ thought Bolt, trying to climb back up, but he was too slow. The explosion caught him, tearing him from the rock and launching him into the air. Lucky for him, he managed to grab his rock in the end. But it wouldn't stay attached to the cliff for long.

"Aha!" exclaimed Gus as he looked over the edge. He began making his way down to Bolt. "Like I said before; there is only… one… super… dog! …!" just as he finished his speech, the rock crumbled under their weight, coming loose and sending them both plummeting.


	21. Chapter 21: Winter Tundra

Calico walked into the prison room and over to his captors' cell.

"Hello, my friends. I hope you are finding your accommodations adequate." He said in his charming British accent. Dr. Forrester said nothing. Penny glared.

"If you have a point, make it."

"I have come here, only to brag about my brilliance… doctor." He said, pausing to almost mock Penny's father. "this." He said, pulling out a large red crystal. "Is a little thing I like to call the power crystal. I will use it to power my latest and possibly greatest invention."

"Greatest invention?" Penny quoted.

" _Pfft. Yeah right."_ She thought.

"Yes. You heard that right. Please applaud now. Oops, I forgot. You can't." and with that he turned and left prematurely.

Bolt slowly opened his eyes.

"Hey super dog." said Gus, surrounded by CaliCorp men. "We're going to give you a nice new home."

"fantastic." Said Bolt drowsily before he curled up and went to sleep right then and there. Everyone looked at each other stunned before they shrugged and completed their mission.

"Bolt?" Bolt woke up. Cat like green eyes, blood red pupils. It was that dog again.

"What now?" the super dog groaned.

"Calico has himself this new gem he calls the 'power crystal' I want it."

"And you expect me to help you because…?" the dog pointed at the talismans Bolt was wearing.

"You have the talisman of power, all the talismans of healing, and somehow managed to get your paws on the ring of darkness. Something that I have really wanted." Bolt looked at the paw holding the ring.

"I thought they said this was the ring of power…?"

"They were wrong. They have called it a ring and a talisman, but it is truly one of the greatest forces of evil in this world."

"So all this time I've…"

"Yes Bolt. Yes." Bolt stared at the ring, stunned. "It has the power to create a nightmarish reality for both the owner and those it's used on. The user's every wish of power that destroys is instantly granted."

"So all that fire I was breathing…"

"…was a power that destroys things and thus became the reality you and everyone you used it on experienced." The cat eyed dog finished.

"This… thing opened my eyes… I don't know if I ever want to use my powers again…" Bolt whimpered.

"Well, we can't have that! Can we?" the dog asked, lifting his paw. The ring began to turn black.

"What… what are you doing?" Bolt stammered, staring at it.

"Don't worry…" his voice was echo like. "I am only… fixing you…" he laughed evilly and everything was purple. When Bolt opened his eyes again, they were red and his eye brows had turned brown. Blinking and looking down at himself, he saw his fur was purple and he had a white neck and tail, as well as big, sharp claws, and he could feel a set of long sharp teeth to match.

"Not this again!" Bolt groaned.

"You seem reluctant to be… as powerful as me." The evil, echoing voice of the other dog rang out. "This will have to do for now." Bolt looked around, baring his teeth, but he couldn't see the other dog anywhere. There was a castle up head and the silhouette of Dr. Hill appeared by it. Spurred on by this, Bolt ran over to check it out.

"You can do it, Bolt!" exclaimed Isai as he appeared beside him. Bolt looked to the dog and flicked his ears.

"This way!" called an echoing voice. Bolt looked around to see a smoke bubble in the air, just in time for it to float inside one of the side doors to the castle. Bolt followed hurriedly but when he got around the corner, slipped on the giant ice rink that greeted him.

"What in the?" Bolt muttered, getting to his feet and slipping all the way across the ice. He found the mysterious dog waiting for him on the other side.

"See this gateway? The dark ring can activate gateways like these. Just use it when you're ready."

"Thanks… for the… useless… information." Bolt said, not used to talking to him.

"Come, I'll show you another." The dog turned back into the smoke bubble and led Bolt back outside and through the main gate of the castle where he guided him to a hidden side room. "These things are cool, but come let me show you something different." He took Bolt out of the side room and let him up a steep staircase to a huge door. "This locked door is the culmination of everything you've been fighting for. Want to get past? Power up the dark ring in the lands beyond the gateways I've shown you. Only then will you be able to break it down." The smoke bubble vanished. Bolt stared at the door in awe. Was it really this close? There was only one way to find out. He turned and super leapt over the castle's walls to find all the gateways he could activate. It didn't take him long to find the first one, hidden underneath the castle. Isai appeared by it and gave him a final word of:

"Come on, Bolt. Smack it!" Bolt looked down at his paw. Then, he grinned and pointed it towards the gateway. A dark black bean shot from the ring, causing a purple portal to pop up that stretched across the gateway. Bolt stared for a second, then grinned and hopped through.


	22. Chapter 22: Canyon Cliffs

On the other side of the gate, Bolt was confronted by none other than Gus. But the wolfdog had black eyes with blood red pupils. The other thing Bolt noticed was that they were back on the cliffs where he and Gus had had their last confrontation.

"Ok, Bolt." Came the echoing voice of the mysterious dog. "Let's see if you can change the course of history." Gus leapt at Bolt. The super dog leapt right back at them and they collided head first. The collision seemed to end in a tie with both canines bouncing back, so they did it again. After at least 15 more collisions, Bolt had worn himself out.

"No…" he whined weakly. Him… lose? He knew it was possible, but like this? Really? Gus came at him to seal the deal as he had done before, but then Bolt felt something strange. The dark ring flashed. Gus stopped dead. 7 smoke bubbles began orbiting Bolt. Then, his fur returned to its usual colour, his teeth got sharper still and his claws turned brown, as well as this, his eyes became cat like green and his pupils were blood red. Gus leapt at him, almost in a panic. Bolt just giggled and vanished before his eyes. Gus froze in fear and bewilderment. In time to miss Bolt appearing behind him and throwing him into a tree by his tail. Gus got back up and Bolt ran past him with his super speed. Gus's next critical flaw was looking to see where Bolt had gone. The super dog managed to run behind him and caught him off guard, landing three devastating high speed collisions before beating the hell out of the wolfdog with his paws. When he decided the wolfdog had had enough physical abuse, he got behind him and a purple energy beam fired from the injury talisman so the wolfdog could heal and live a little longer. Bolt teleported right in front of the revived Gus and the wolfdog instantly bit him, however, Bolt was faster, clamping down on Gus's muzzle with his long sharp teeth and chucking him away. Gus came back and they engaged in a mad battle to get the most hits on their opponent, which Bolt eventually lost and was thrown to the ground. But when Gus went to finish him off, Bolt somehow managed to get through his legs and attacked Gus from behind, biting and clawing. Gus was more aware of his surroundings than he appeared and managed to dodge some of the attacks, but not many. He got a few hits on Bolt but Bolt was far superior to him at this point and got way more, throwing the wolfdog to the ground. Bolt was even as low as to kick him while he was down, getting more cheap hits on Gus as he lay on the floor. But when Bolt was finished, he was madder than ever, fighting through the pain and getting several good hits on the super dog. But Bolt retaliated harshly, getting at least triple the amount of hits Gus had achieved. It made him exhausted, but he still wanted to keep going, so he shot another injury healing beam after Gus and panted while waiting for him to come back. Gus inevitably did, laughing at that. Bolt growled at this and proceeded to dodge ever attack the wolfdog made. Then Bolt attacked himself, landing a hit on nearly every move. The two had three more collision ties before Bolt knocked the super powered wolfdog to the ground. Somehow though, Gus managed to get to his feet. They engaged in another battle, but this time it seemed as if Gus had the advantage. Bolt was off balance and out of time. He paused to find his footing and rhythm again, but this allowed Gus to land a direct hit with a super powered viscous fire shot. Bolt fell to the ground under the heat and Gus howled in fury, unleashing another unforgiving fire blast on him. Yet, when he went to attack, Bolt dodged out of his way and had him knocked to the ground in two hits. Then, the super dog unleashed a devastating lava blast that blew up most of the surrounding area. Bolt laughed evilly before reverting back to his original form and super speeding back through the portal.


	23. Chapter 23: what's happening to me?

Bolt selected another portal gateway and activated it with the dark ring. He jumped through and instantly a squad of Calico's goons pinned him down.

"Hello there, dog." Calico. Bolt growled furiously. "Take it easy, you wouldn't want your friends to get hurt… or worse." A capsule rose from the ground containing Dr. Forrester and an unconscious Penny. Bolt gasped, breaking free from the guards and slamming into the capsule. It quickly lowered into the ground leaving the super dog to despair over it. "Now, cooperate with our experiment, and no harm will come to them." Another capsule rose from the ground, very similar to the one Bolt had been first altered in. Bolt had absolutely no choice, the capsule seemed to have been made from a variant of bulletproof glass and the floor was some strange type of unbreakable metal. Shaking with disbelief and confusion, he began to walk slowly and reluctantly to the capsule Calico had directed him to. His head hung and he refused to look at the strange device that made him feel so strangely repelled from it. As soon as he laid a paw inside, it made him feel almost sleepy, he caught wind of what he assumed was some kind of sedative. His movements were automatic now, almost like a zombie dog.

"What are you doing?" the voice sounded… feminine? Were his ears not working properly? That voice belonged to a male. Bolt made the effort to look up. Another dog like him was in front of him, just, white, with brown eyes, like how Bolt used to be. The dog seemed to swim in front of his eyes, like a reflection in a windswept pond. Lights clicked on around them and a mechanical whirring noise aroused. "It's already starting to happen…" the dog looked around. "They're destroying your powers… piece by piece…" the dog flickered, as if he wasn't really there. "Maybe not completely… but when they're done, it'll be enough for it never to resurface again." the reflection began fading. The dog stood, desperately flinging a paw forward. "It's not too late to stop this!" the dog's pupils flickered red. Something cut through the powerful sedative. Bolt made a sudden gasp. His own pupils flickered red for a second. "Come on." The dog's voice was harsh now. Cold and cruel. Somehow so familiar it was like he was a family member. Bolt's breath was rapid. Slowly his expression formed into a growl and the super dog locked his jaws together. His teeth began to painfully extend and sharpen further. Body shaking in pain, the claws on his quivering paws became brown. Bolt opened his eyes. Blood red pupils. Cat like green eyes. His ragged breath continued spilling from his mouth. "That's it!" exclaimed the dog who had become a mirror image of Bolt and wasn't swimming anymore. "Now come on, follow me." The dog vanished. Bolt stood to his feet. It required a big effort and he was still shaking, but he somehow loved every second. Far more powerful than before, with one mighty, powerful leap, he ripped through the top of the capsule. The guards outside were all but doomed to Bolt, with two ferocious growls, he'd torn through their armour and weapons. Bolt faced Calico. Payback time for everything. He leapt towards him, jaws open, an iron determination to end his grudge in one bite. Then, suddenly, he was thrown backwards. He hurriedly got to his feet, a ferocious hunger to punish his attacker. He was somewhat confused when he saw the person who had stopped him was none other than the dog who had just helped him. The dog stood calmly in front of Calico, yet with an expression of immovability on his face. Calico then flickered like a hologram. "You can't use the dark ring's charge for yourself, Bolt." He explained calmly. "You need it for later." He impaled the super dog on a black energy beam that reverted Bolt to his original form. "This session is over." He motioned to the gateway that appeared behind the super dog. Bolt turned, flicked his tail, and walked back through.


	24. Chapter 24: Cloud Temple

Bolt selected another gateway upon return and walked through. The landscape he found himself in seemed brighter than some of the others. Bolt panted a little, looking around for the mysterious dog guiding him, eager to get this done. He cantered over in a few bounds as soon as he appeared. "You seem to be carrying some extra baggage." The dog noted. He turned and impaled a larger than normal ladybug with a black energy beam. It caused a mini explosion and something shiny and white rose from it. The dog impaled the white object before swinging around and shooting it at Bolt. The glowing white object passed straight through him and Bolt staggered, drawing in a sharp breath on reflex. His claws shortened. An ice bridge formed over an abyss between the island they were on and another one. "These islands float in the sky." Said the mysterious dog. "Collect more of those white things don't fall off." Bolt made his way carefully across the ice bridge. On the other side, he was confronted with a large black bee. The bee dived towards him and Bolt easily impaled it. A white glowing object rose from it and zoomed right into, and through Bolt. The super dog's teeth shortened. He headed inside the castle in front of him to find another giant bee, and a large red fish. Bolt impaled both of them one after another, a glowing white object rising from each and zooming through Bolt. Bolt's fur returned to its usual white colour, but with pink markings on the neck and tail. He turned down the left corridor to the next room where there was another giant bee and two giant fish. Bolt quickly impaled all three in rapid succession, three white glowing objects rising from them and zooming through Bolt. His brows became pink, and his eyes turned green/yellow with slitted pupils. Finally, his claws returned to normal. Bolt's fur fluffed a little in the breeze. It felt like a huge weight had just been lifted from on top of him. Bolt went outside and super leapt up to the top floor of the room. There was another giant black bee up there and Bolt impaled it easily. A white object rose from it and flew through Bolt. His teeth returned to normal. He super leapt through a window into the top floor of the first room, before jumping again across a gap in the floor. A giant bee was there waiting for him as well as a giant fish and Bolt impaled them both, sending two more of the white objects flying through his body. The markings on his fur and brows turned blue. There was a giant ladybug on the balcony outside and Bolt impaled it too, the last white object flying through his body and his pupils rounded. Bolt felt way lighter than before and the mysterious dog appeared again. "Those were robots." He explained. "Each one built using the soul of an animal. Come, I will show you the factory." A gateway appeared behind him and he jumped through it, Bolt following his paw steps.


	25. Chapter 25: Afton Robotnik Farms

On the other side, the two found themselves in a security station. It was very dim and the lights in the halls were off, making it dark and scary.

"Ok… we've seen it… let's go now, right?" Bolt asked the dog beside him.

"Are you kidding? We're going to have to destroy these things first." The dog replied. "Pick up that… iPad… looking… thing." Bolt grabbed the device he pointed at and switched it on. Immediately, an image of several giant robots flashed up on screen. "What the—it's a camera."

"I see. Well, now we know where they are, let's get this over with." Bolt began to move towards the door, but he was stopped by the other dog biting his tail.

"Are you crazy? Did you see how dim that room was? Do you see how dark the hallway is? Our white fur makes us glow in the dark, that's an advantage to the robots. They'll know we're here. And they will come for us. Try to kill us. Trust me; it's safer to stay here. Pick a doorway and be ready to hit the door switch." Bolt did as he was told. His companion took the other side. "And make sure you keep checking that iPad camera view thing." Bolt's supersonic hearing picked up something.

"Was that a robot?" his stomach growled. His companion listened too.

"I heard it… was it the bunny?" the dog's tail flicked nervously.

"I think it was the bunny." Nervous tears stung at Bolt's eyes. He risked a look over to his companion and movement caught his attention. "Oh god!" Bolt yelped, trying to get as far up against the back wall as possible before he realised it was only the fan on the desk. His sensitive ears heard the yelp he had made bounce around the empty corridor. He kicked himself harshly in his mind. He looked over at his companion slightly, enough to catch him glaring. Then, his glare turned to a dual look of shock and fear.

"Bolt!" Bolt looked around and saw the bunny robot staring at him from the doorway. The super dog screamed, jumping up and slamming his paw down on the door switch, nearly breaking it. A heavy metal door covered the doorway with a clang. Bolt panted then looked up. More movement caught his eyes and he let out a strangled yelp, and then realized it was just the fan again.

"Just the fan… just the fan…" he whispered to himself, looking at the iPad again. It was showing the supply closest now, nothing was there. He was in the process of looking up at his door when he heard a nightmarish scream. His head swung around to his companion to see what was going on. It was the bunny robot again. And it was in the room with them.


	26. Chapter 26: Robotropolis

Everything went crazy. Bolt's companion attacked the robot and they struggled together before he was thrown against the back wall. The bunny stepped closer to finish its ceaseless task, but Bolt finally got his footing, impaling the bunny with a black energy beam and it fell lifeless to the ground. Bolt panted, shaking.

"man." His companion panted. "I'm sick of being hunted already. Let's get 'em."

"Now that's more my speed." Bolt panted back. And with an almighty howl, the two dashed out the same door the bunny had ambushed them from into the dark hallway. An oversized caterpillar robot was in the dimly lit corridor to greet them. Bolt and the caterpillar faced off in a deadly game of Chicken, ending with Bolt slicing straight through it with his super strength. Then, an army of giant bees flew around the corner and Bolt and his companion jumped around, bouncing off anything they could find to avoid the bullets being shot from the bee's stingers. Eventually, while their fire was focused on his companion, Bolt managed to rebalance on all four feet and unleash a weak but deadly super bark that destroyed the bees and sent sound and shockwaves bouncing around the building. As if in direct response, the shape of a humanoid robot filled the dim hallway. It seemed like it was wearing a cape but the light was too dim for Bolt to see properly. Then, all of a sudden, the robot whipped his cape aside, revealing not only the rest of his body, but also a pair of robotic wings that filled up the hallway more than anything else. The robot extended his hand, each finger was in fact a gun, and he began using all five to shoot the super dog and his friend, causing them to dodge around the hallway madly. As if that wasn't bad enough, he then revealed and fired several missiles after them. Bolt ran along the wall before jumping in front of the missiles that were going after his companion and letting off another weak super bark. The missiles were blown way off course, back into the humanoid robot's face and blew him up. Bolt panted lightly. "That was tight!" he high pawed his companion. "Huh?" in the dim light of the hallway, he saw another shape. But before either of them could move towards it or even tell what it was, a green light shined from down the hall, somehow illuminating nothing around it and twin laser beams shot through Bolt's body like bullets. The super dog fell to the ground. Bolt's companion stared attempting to take that in before charging down the hallway and attacking the… whatever it was. When Bolt woke up a few seconds later, he could see two white beads of light where the two fighters were moving and battling each other so fast, he could barely see them. Eventually the action stopped for a spilt second, and Bolt was able to get a look at their assailant. It was a dog robot. Then, the fight was back on. Bolt's companion was thrown into the air and beaten into the celling. Then, before Bolt could rush to join the fight, the dog came out of nowhere from the side, kicking him in the head and causing him to slam straight into the wall before grabbing his friend by the tail and throwing him into the wall again as he tried to get up. Bolt tried to get to his paws, but the robot was too quick and slammed him back into the ground. Bolt's companion whined catching the robot's attention and he went to attack. Bolt's eyes opened just in time to see his counterpart impale the dog on a black energy beam. Then, his eyes closed.


	27. Chapter 27: Aqua Marsh

"Hey. Wake up." The voice seemed different, gentler. Bolt opened his eyes. The cat eyed dog was still there, sitting in front of him.

"Where am I?" Bolt whined, looking around. This was not the place he'd passed out at.

"We're back on the other side of the gateway." Bolt attempted to talk, groaned instead, then lifted his head and tried to stand.

"We have to get back and make sure there are no more…" the mysterious dog gently pushed his head back down.

"You've done enough. Rest easy. You only have one more task left." Bolt gave a happy and relieved sigh. "Calm?" the super dog nodded and the mysterious dog let him up. Then he led him to the last gateway and, upon activating it, they walked through. The scene that greeted him was not what he expected. They arrived at a shallow swimming pool just in time to see Gus throw Bolt into a wall and the super dog lay limp in the water. Bolt growled.

"You'll pay for that!"

"You know what you have to do." The mysterious dog told him. Bolt nodded and leapt into the pool to face his mortal enemy. He let Gus charge forwards and held his ground. Then, thrust his weight forward, making sure his footing was firm and the two super dogs collided head first with a crunch. It was an intense power struggle. Bolt's green/yellow eyes stared into Gus's brown ones. The dark ring began to glow an intense deep black and lightning even began flickering around the two. A low, strained growl emitted from Bolt's throat and black energy began to spring from his fur. He took his right forepaw forward and slid his head up slightly, making sure the intense friction between the two remained the same, Gus's head moved upward slightly and Bolt made his ultimate move; a quick disconnect followed by a snout delivered uppercut to the wolfdog's jaw. The wolfdog was stunned. Bolt pinned him easily. Bolt laughed evilly, his voice seemed to generate its own creepy echo. Gus slowly opened his eyes and lunged for his throat, folding his body around the super dog once he'd grabbed him and trying to choke the life out of him. Bolt lashed out without hesitation, catching Gus's collar in his teeth and snapping clean through it. Gus looked at the collar in the water with a surprised yelp. Bolt took advantage of the situation, grabbing his neck and folding it uncomfortably parallel to his body. Beating his head in for good measure, Bolt wriggled out of the wolfdog's grasp and left him to untangle himself. But Gus couldn't do it in time and, as soon as he had access to it, Bolt grabbed the wolfdog's tail, throwing him and causing him to hit himself painfully a few times as he went tumbling backwards. Bolt watched the wolfdog groan with a broad smile and even began to shake a bit. The super dog let go of a couple of echoing giggles which, after a pause, began to turn into a laugh. And before long, the super dog was evilly laughing like he didn't even care. But with the glowing dark ring, this didn't last too long before the whole zone became grey and clouded. And it was under cover of this cloud that Bolt and the mysterious cat eyed dog shared a grin before heading back through the gateway.


	28. Chapter 28: Calico's Arena

The dark ring was glowing nonstop now. The two headed towards the door that would take them to Calico and finally end what they had been fighting for, for years now. They walked up the stairs and Bolt's friend, the cat eyed dog stepped in front of the door, standing tall and seeming to bask in the door's presence. Yet, when he turned back around and went to sit by the stairs, his head was drooped and he was notably sad. Bolt cocked his head.

"What's wrong?" his friend closed his eyes and sighed.

"Once you go through that door, you will never come back out." he told him. "Our travels will come to an end… I have to admit this, but I am a very… VERY bad person… dog." he stood and looked to the roof of the veranda type overhang they stood on with his eyes closed. "You don't need me Bolt, but I will forever be a part of you. An unnecessary one… but a part of you. If I am not as friendly as I have been from this day to this night, don't let me in. promise me that." He looked back at the floor. "Sometimes when I close my eyes, I pretend I'm alright, but it's never enough. Whenever I howl out, my echo is the only voice that comes back. The shadows that surround me are the only friends that I have."

"I… I don't really know what to tell you…" Bolt looked down too.

"You don't have to tell me anything. I know I'm an evil dog." and with that he raised his paw, black energy surrounding Bolt. With a purple flash, Bolt's green/yellow eyes turned brown and the blue markings disappeared. Bolt blinked surprised. "You don't need me. …any of me, including my influence."

"I… I don't know what to say other than… you're right… not to be rude." His friend shook his head.

"You've never needed me, and you never will." He stretched, black energy swirling around him. "Use your powers only for good Bolt. Don't turn into a dog like me." His tail turned into a blade and a pair of wings sprouted from his back. "Make haste, Bolt. Farewell." And with that, he walked to the edge of the veranda and jumped off, extending his bat wings and flying away. Bolt sat down to wave as his friend looked back while flapping his wings. Then, he glided around the mountain out of sight. But Bolt saw him once more, as a shadow in the distance, flying upwards towards the moon. Then, he turned and pointed the glowing dark ring at the door which opened, allowing him to walk through.

Bolt woke slowly, opening his eyes he saw he was in a cage. The super dog slowly got to his feet. After he looked around, he began to check himself carefully, lightning bolt mark; check, no weird colourful markings; check, no creepy black glowing ring; check… wait what? The dark ring was still glowing. Bolt raised his eyebrows. Then, he realized that what his mysterious evil friend had said, seemed to have been true, and not just some weird dream. Calico must have some power crystal gem, this ring was truly the ring of darkness and everyone had been wrong about it, and throughout the whole time he'd been sleeping, he'd been subconsciously charging his ring, probably for this very purpose. Bolt lifted a paw to look at it. Glowing black, it was pretty easy to see the very real possibility that this could be a weapon of ultimate evil. Taking a deep breath Bolt slammed his paw on the ground. There was a massive explosion and purple and blue light shot into the sky. When it faded, the cage that once contained Bolt had been smashed into several pieces and purple lightning bolts shimmered around them like they were charged with electricity. Bolt shook with the output of evil energy, his pupils glowing blood red before he noticed the destruction and calmed down. Remaining on task, Bolt got up and ran from the room he was in. eventually, he made it outside to a somewhat familiar, but seemingly updated battle arena, in time to see his mortal enemy Gus with a brown scarf on, fire some sort of yellow explosive sphere at three of Calico's goons who hurriedly dodged.

"Ugh, hold still." The wolfdog growled.

"Hey, wolfdog!" he called out. Gus turned and Bolt saw clearly a red gem nestled in the folded knot at the front of the scarf.

" _That must be the power crystal!"_ Bolt thought.

"What? You?!" the wolfdog growled. Bolt grinned as the dark ring glowed.

"If you want to test that power crystal, why don't you try it on me? I'll stand still. I promise." Bolt said, trying not to growl at his foe as his tail twitched in excitement.

"What? But how did you know about…?" Gus growled. "Whatever, you just sealed your fate!" Bolt growled and dashed in to attack. Gus stood calmly before shooting another explosive sphere. It was way too late to dodge. The charge ripped through the super dog like a sharp pencil through paper. Bolt flew backwards and lay still. Gus laughed. "Man, this thing is super effective!" Bolt's power necklace began to glow, followed by the healing talismans. Finally, the dark ring shimmered into life, blacker and darker than ever. Purple lightning shimmered around Bolt's body and the super dog leapt to his feet, lunging at Gus in a super strength charged charge. Gus quickly sent his right forepaw shooting forward to ground himself and Bolt's skull met Gus's iron, invincible body. There was crackling sounds as the lightning passed between them, and them Bolt staggered back, flopping into a sit. Gus stood again, but then screamed in pain as the lightning coursing around his body electrocuted him. Bolt smiled evilly as Gus fell to the ground, but the wolfdog was more durable than he thought, getting back up and catching him with another sphere and causing him to flop into an awkward lay down pose. However, Bolt's power necklace talisman started to glow again, quickly followed by the healing talismans. Gus syphoned some power from the power crystal and used a ground pound to send lightning shocks all over the place. Bolt yelped and shivered as he got hit, but the dark ring shimmered into life once more. Bolt leapt up and shadows leaked from his body, tearing through Gus and causing him to fall to the ground. Bolt's power talisman was still glowing. Gus seemed to still have plenty more energy left to fight. He leapt up way too quickly than he should have otherwise, catching Bolt off guard with another explosive sphere. Bolt flopped to the ground but at this point, the healing talismans were glowing again. Bolt attempted to get up but Gus hit him with another explosive sphere, throwing him along the ground. Bolt tried to get up again but Gus shot him one last time, a direct blow to the head. Bolt gasped, trying to get air and lay limp.

"Sometimes when I close my eyes, I pretend I'm alright, but it's never enough." The voice of the cat eyed dog echoed in Bolt's mind. The super dog half opened his eyes. Given the choice, he might not have gotten back up. He was way too tired. But then he saw the flickering dark ring and his eyes widened. Bolt closed his eyes to concentrate and purple lightning bolts began to flicker around his body. Bolt leapt to his feet, obviously surprising Gus and colliding head first before the wolfdog could do anything about it. Bolt didn't even put his full power into the collision. The lightning transfer did most of the work, electrocuting the wolfdog and causing him to flop to the ground. Bolt growled fiercely, slamming his paws on the ground and sending purple light shooting into the sky as he caused another explosion, making the ground shake tremendously. Gus was panting and shaking in pain when the light faded. He tried to get to his feet, but Bolt jumped up, shadows firing out from his body in all directions. Gus yelled in pain, pawing at his eyes. Then, he slowly stood, still shaking and placed his right forepaw forward, grounding and sinking into his invulnerability state. The two's brown eyes locked with each other, Bolt could see the anger and fear hidden within Gus's eyes, and it was almost hilarious to him. Bolt leapt up and kicked the wolfdog hard in the head. Though Gus was invincible, it was clear he'd felt it somewhere. His eyes snapped tightly shut, and after it was delivered, he panted, accidentally dropping his shield. This left him clear for Bolt to barrel into him three shattering times before delivering a deadly paw strike that sent the wolfdog flying back. Bolt leapt after him, sending him flying further with another purple light explosion and beating him up with his paws for a while afterward before charging up a purple energy beam with the dark ring and shooting Gus with it. The blast sent him crashing into, and ripping straight through a rock.


	29. Chapter 29: When Will It End?

Bolt panted as the dark ring flickered out.

"No!" came the unmistakeable cry of Calico from… somewhere. Bolt looked around in time to see him press a button. Suddenly, there was a mighty flash and an electric charge came from a tall machine onto the piled pieces of destroyed rock. Yellow electric beams fired everywhere, mostly aiming for compartments in the floor, from which several missiles then rose. Bolt watched in wide eyed horror as Calico began bragging about his intelligence once more. "You see dog? This time, I had a backup plan! Using the power of the power crystal, these missiles will destroy this base and everything and everyone in it." Then, he laughed and turned to leave in a nearby helicopter that had just landed nearby. Bolt swung around and bounded after him, but stopped abruptly, looking back around at one of the launching missiles.

"Penny…" he turned around to run towards one of the missiles, but then looked back at Calico as he escaped.

"Get him!" echoed a voice from Bolt's head.

"No Bolt." came Penny's calm and strategical voice. Bolt managed to keep himself from panicking, running towards a missile and jumping onto it. Penny was right, if he went after Calico, it would be too late to stop the missiles, and it made no sense to let Penny, her father and possibly everyone else on the island suffer and die. Besides, his cat eyed companion had told him not to listen to him. Once the missiles were launched, Bolt got to work, cutting the missile he was travelling on in half. Bolt jumped to the front, the cut half that contained the explosive exploding, and the harmless part Bolt sat on began to tumble back into the abyss. Bolt leapt for the next missile and began to make his way to the switch for the nose cone. Once he'd pulled it, he made his way to the top and cut the nose cone off. He repeated this process with the next three missiles. The fourth missile's nose cone got stuck. Bolt panicked as he looked up at the island, two more to destroy and they were coming down fast. The super dog beat at the missile trying to get the nose cone loose. Then, he growled in frustration, lunging forwards and viciously biting at the metal. After some wiggling, the nose cone came loose and he chucked it into the sky. Bolt quickly repeated the process with the other two missiles.


	30. Chapter 30: Icy Reception

Swerving out of control, the missile plunged into the sea. Bolt watched from the launch pad, a victorious smile on his face. Then, he padded over to the rock pile and dug Gus out, grabbing him and throwing him off the launch pad into the sea.

"Good riddance." Bolt huffed, turning and walking back into the building.

Dr. Forrester and Penny looked up at the sudden yelling of goons. One of the men slid along the floor right in front of them and a split second later, Bolt arrived to growl at him.

"Bolt!" cried Penny. Bolt flicked his ear, finally hearing his person's voice for real and turned to look, wagging his tail. Then, he cut into the bars of their prison cell with his laser eyes and dived through the hole he'd cut to knock the bars out of the way. The super dog easily bit through the tough ropes tying their hands and feet and the trio were finally free. Bolt rampaged through the halls, destroying every goon in his path; he finally had something to fight for again. Eventually they made it out to the main gate and when the lot outside was clear of enemies, Bolt broke into the back of a nearby truck. The metal divider between the seats and back compartment was easily pulled off by Bolt's teeth and thrown out of the truck. The super dog crawled through to the front and unlocked the driver's door for Penny's father, who unlocked the other door for his daughter. Penny locked up the back of the truck again and joined her father in the front. The two drove through the city and over the long bridge, out of this place.

Several days later, Penny's peace under a tree was disturbed by Dr. Forrester yelling:

"I've finished it!" Penny and Bolt both jumped up and ran over to him as he came up the ladder from the basement. The trio now lived on a remote farm in the countryside with a house, barn, chicken coop, garage, river, horse yard, and a shack.

"What is it dad?" Penny asked him. Dr. Forrester showed her a container filled with pills.

"These blue glowing pills seem to be able to grant my guinea pigs a temporary super power." He told her.

"Really? Do you think it'd work on Bolt?" Penny asked him. Dr. Forrester laughed.

"He already has his own powers." He stared at the pills with what Penny had come to know as his 'thinking' face. "So far, they seem to only grant my test subjects the ability to create ice and snow. I'm still working on something bigger. Give me time."

"Time granted." Penny laughed. Then, she and Bolt went back to relaxing and Dr. Forrester went back into the basement to continue his research.


End file.
